In years to come, people will ask, was he better as a bowler than a batsman, and my reply will always be, he was at his very best as a slip fielder. Those bucket hands and wonderful reflexes make him one of the best behind the wicket fielders the game has ever seen.
His batting was invariably frustrating: a hugely strong, naturally gifted player, who lacked the focus and concentration to take full advantage of his God given talents. Quite why he could focus ball after ball in the slips, yet with a bat in his hand his mind wandered, is hard to explain. His average with the willow is disappointingly low. But then his bowling average isn't as good as one might expect either.
However, having Flintoff at the other end, tying down batsmen, peppering them with balls into their bodies at painful heights, made it so much easier to take wickets at the other end. That was his great strength as a bowler - his ferociously accurate aggression which bought wickets for others as a batsman tried to score when released from the torture of facing Freddie.
Winning the Ashes back, after all those years of hurt, remains probably the greatest moment in sport for me - better even than our FA Cup victories in 75 and 80. It was one hell of a series, the greatest roller coaster ride in sport ever, right from that opening day when we had the Aussies 7 down for not more than 150 runs. I was at Lords to see the Australian fightback on day three and we lost that first test. But from then on...well it was heaven and hell and heaven and hell and heaven and hell all the way through to that final day at the Oval when the series victory was confirmed.
Farewell Freddie, and thanks for memories!
12 comments:
What a waste! Hugely missed? He was always injured. When it comes to injuries, this guy would give Dyer a run for his money except that neither would be able to run because of injury.
I agree he was a good slip fielder and bowled awesome spells sometimes but they were too few and far between. He didnt take care of himself, simple as that. He could have been a legend like Botham but instead he will be remembered as a bit part.
His injuries just meant that others were not able to progress because they were only ever in the side until Freddy got better. Look how far the side has come and moved on as a team since he's been missing. He wouldn't get into the side now.
And please explain this Ashes thing? Why do you hold it in such high regard? Greatest moment in sport for you?! Why HF? It's just one Test series!
Explain the Ashes thing? Only a series? Then the Grand National and Derby are only horse races, no different from the 3.10 at Brighton, the Arsenal v Tottonham, Rangers v Celtic and Liverpool v Everton games are just football matches, the World Cup is just a football competition and Wimbledon is just a game of tennis!
A fit Flintoff would walk into the current team!
Hear Hear Stani - once again there is someone who knows more about a given sport than you do.
Great personality and spirit. Very good player but in my opinion not really a 'great' player.
Cricket is one of the most analysed sports in the world in terms of statistics. Wisdens published during Freddie's career show that his appearance and performance stats put him nowhere near 'greatness' in comparison to his peers, neither present or historical.
He's overrated as a player and unfortunately his fame is more a product of his personality in the modern era of 'celebrity' than his limited contribution to Cricket.
Still sport isn't about stats and he has undoubtedly delivered some iconic moments to us England fans and I'll always appreciate and remember him fondly for those!
Hit test averages should have been more like his one day averages where his bowling was in the lower 20’s. It was very interesting listening to an interview he gave yesterday where you could tell that he wished he had been more disciplined in his younger days. I would suspect that if you took his test averages for his last 5 years then they would be up there with the best all-rounder’s. A terrific cricketer and a very likable bloke and I wish him well but for some to ask who was the better him or Botham I’m afraid Freddie was not in the same league.
HF,
I know there's the old colonial British Empire thing to play over but why invent the Ashes? What's the point? You don't need to play over burnt bails when you have a history like that. Plus, the Aussies and English say they hate each other but secretly they enjoy jumping in bed together. Just look at the way they compliment each other on commentary. Pakistan vs India, now that's a rivalry :)
And the Ashes is just 5 Test games played in either England or Australia. Such limited a test cannot serve as much of an achievement if one side succeeds in beating the other. It is no way near as important an accomplishment as other things such as the world t20 England won. But the way the players go on about it you'd think it was! "I always wanted to play in the Ashes"..."My first words were Ashes"...I'm gonna name my son Ashes"..."When I die I went to end up as..."
A fit Flintoff (is there such a thing?) would not walk into the new, current, England side. Not under Andy Flower anyway. He sees the bigger picture and knows the team is more important than an injury prone alcoholic who has discipline issues and may drag youngsters with him when he goes off the rails. Flower likes to stick with a winning side. Jimmy Anderson, England's best bowler, can't even get into the t20 side because it's a formula that works and Flower doesn't want to change it. The Dr has done Flintoff a favour.
Flintoff could have been a great but he just did not take it seriously enough. Cricket made him a millionaire and sadly, cricket did more for him than he did for cricket.
Dont get me wrong, he must be a top fella to have a drink with but not a great cricketer.
You are so wrong on this one Stani. First off, my headline was carefully written. Flintoff's career is almost all about the Ashes. I say that his batting and bowling averages overall are disappointing. I accept that he is, to a large extent, an unfulfilled talent. But just as Maradona will be remembered forever because of his World Cup, so Flintoff will be a great in the eyes of English cricket fans because of our two Ashes victories.
You are dismissive of the Ashes series but what you fail to recognise is that the Aussies had dominated the entire game for 20 years before we reclaimed the Ashes. Warne and McGrath were still in their pomp. Their batting line-up was still bristling with centurians. Our victory in that series was gripping, pulsating and magical. Beating the West Indies was a huge thing after their period of domination too.
Your comparison with India v Pakistan is misguided. Sport is sport Stani, you do not need to hate to feel keen rivalry. Federa and Nadal like each other but still fight tooth and nail and give their all in a game against each other. The trouble with the India and Pakistan contest is that cricket is a secondary issue - it is just hatred dressed in flannels, religious separation and historical ethnic antipathy masquerading as a sporting contest. It's like Catholic Celtic v Protestant Rangers. It isn't sport, it is war.
I see no harm is Lillie trying to kill Mike Denness with a ball at his throat and then them having a beer and a laugh at a barbeque after the game. That is healthy sport. The problem comes when Allah is trying to get a ball onto the heart of Shiva to make a point!
You make runs in cricket HF, not points; that's tennis. And I thought you knew the game!
Do you know, I read through the whole bloody article trying to work out what you were going on about Marty! Then the last paragraph of my last comment! Grrrrrr!
Good article though, worth reading twice!
HF - Mike Denesss is a big WH fan. He has a season ticket and drinks in the Millers on the Barking Road after home games. Lovely bloke to chat to, great stories.
Great webpage, I hadn’t ran into this before during my lookups! Carry on with the superb job!
Post a Comment