Freddie Flintoff has long been regarded as England's talisman and certainly if the boys are to progress past the Super Eights, then they will need Freddie firing on all cylinders.
My thoughts for a while have been though, that Freddie has underperformed with the bat in the major one-day competitions for England. So, let's take a look shall we ?
In all ODIs Flintoff has played 117 matches and scored 2984 at a rate of 33.15. He's also taken 124 wickets at an average of 26.41. His bowling compares favourably with the likes of Jacques Kallis, Andrew Symonds and others. In fact, it even stands up against the great Ian Botham, Freddie averaging 26 with the ball in ODIs verses Botham's 28. However in the batting stakes, Jacques Kallis averages 45.05, Andrew Symonds 38.61, Chris Gayle 38.37, whilst Flintoff manages just 33.15. His bowling possibly makes up for the batting but what about in World Cups ? In 12 World Cup matches for England, Flintoff has scored just 171 runs, at an average of 21.37, whilst his bowling in World Cups has been fractionally better than his bowling overall.
Flintoff had a reasonable Commonwealth Bank Series in Australia, registering two 40's and a 70, but he's yet to make a contribution in this World Cup, missing out in the warm-up matches, making a duck against New Zealand before missing the Canadian match and not being required to bat against Kenya.
When Flintoff has fired with the bat it has tended to be in sporadic periods. England will have to hope that there is one of those periods just around the corner otherwise England's tail is going to need to wag to make up for their mis-firing all-rounder.
Wednesday, 28 March 2007
One Horse Race ?
Matthew Hayden's brutal 158 against West Indies means that he has now scored 348 runs in this World Cup already, they have come off just 318 balls and include no less than 10 sixes.
It's an extraordinary achievement for a man who might have thought his One-Day career was finished less than 6 months ago when Australia preferred Shane Watson at the top of the order. Hayden currently ranks at 19 in the ICC One-Day Batting stats. Having seemingly reached his peak early in 2003, when he was the no. 1 rated One-Day batsman, Hayden's ranking has fallen steadily until mid 2006.
This Aussie "old-guard" was supposed to over-the-hill when England visited them down-under at the end of last-year, but right now they look as focussed and hungry as a bunch of 20-somethings with a point to prove.
The confidence and the intensity is what sets Australia apart and this is evident in none more so than Matthew Hayden right now. Hayden's confidence in himself has always been high, asking before his maiden first-class innings whether anyone had ever scored 200 on debut... and then going out and hitting 149. He's had his fair share of critics, mainly concerning his limited repatoire of shots for the one-day arena. This is very true....
right and the moment he just bashes it back over the bowlers head for six !!
Mental strength has won through and allowed physical strength to have it's dazzling moment in the spotlight.
This has been the story of all the Aussie mainstays, mental strength.
Their belief in themselves and their team-mates is unshakable. I was one of those who wondered if this World Cup was one too many, especially after losing so disappointingly in New Zealand...... no you have to wonder whether this World Cup is yet ENOUGH !!
It's an extraordinary achievement for a man who might have thought his One-Day career was finished less than 6 months ago when Australia preferred Shane Watson at the top of the order. Hayden currently ranks at 19 in the ICC One-Day Batting stats. Having seemingly reached his peak early in 2003, when he was the no. 1 rated One-Day batsman, Hayden's ranking has fallen steadily until mid 2006.
This Aussie "old-guard" was supposed to over-the-hill when England visited them down-under at the end of last-year, but right now they look as focussed and hungry as a bunch of 20-somethings with a point to prove.
The confidence and the intensity is what sets Australia apart and this is evident in none more so than Matthew Hayden right now. Hayden's confidence in himself has always been high, asking before his maiden first-class innings whether anyone had ever scored 200 on debut... and then going out and hitting 149. He's had his fair share of critics, mainly concerning his limited repatoire of shots for the one-day arena. This is very true....
right and the moment he just bashes it back over the bowlers head for six !!
Mental strength has won through and allowed physical strength to have it's dazzling moment in the spotlight.
This has been the story of all the Aussie mainstays, mental strength.
Their belief in themselves and their team-mates is unshakable. I was one of those who wondered if this World Cup was one too many, especially after losing so disappointingly in New Zealand...... no you have to wonder whether this World Cup is yet ENOUGH !!
Monday, 26 March 2007
Freddie vs Skip
All the pre-match talk from the England team was how a tough week had brought the team together and how they were more up for the matches than they had ever been. The talk from outside commentators was somewhat different. Michael Atherton described a "Spicy" net session where Andrew Flintoff had repeatedly peppered Michael Vaughan with short balls and there was speculation about whether it was Vaughan or Fletcher who took the decision to strip Flintoff of the vice-captaincy.
On the pitch the performance was work-man like, with the exception of Pietersen, who looked as focussed and intent as I have seen him. Freddie performed, he always will, however, his body language didn't suggest a man that was fully motivated and he almost forgot to appeal for one LBW, such was the malais that seems to hang over him still.
Michael Vaughan has a history of personality clashes. Stating that "It would be a long time before he plays for England again" after Chris Read was dropped from the side having done little wrong in his first few performances. There are those who feel that Andrew Caddick's early departure from the side was at least partly due to Michael Vaughan and the failure of England to recall Robert Key after he set the world alight with his first stint in the side, suggested a captain (then batting at No. 4 because of a strong top 3) who didn't want to risk his place. At the weekend the decision to only bowl Ravi Bopara for 1 over was strange in the extreme. I saw no sign of an injury and barr a no-ball which went four, it was a pretty decent over.
If it is the case that Vaughan instigated the stripping of the vice-captaincy from Freddie then the England management face an uphill battle to get the team spirit back. Andrew Flintoff earnt deep respect from his fellow players during his tortuous stint as captain and Vaughan has seemingly struggled to get his big guns passionate about playing for him. Realistically there can be no change of captain before the end of the World Cup, so if England are to progress further in this tournament then Duncan Fletcher and co. need to doing some relationship building between Freddie and his skipper pretty quickly..... otherwise one more net session could decide it !!
On the pitch the performance was work-man like, with the exception of Pietersen, who looked as focussed and intent as I have seen him. Freddie performed, he always will, however, his body language didn't suggest a man that was fully motivated and he almost forgot to appeal for one LBW, such was the malais that seems to hang over him still.
Michael Vaughan has a history of personality clashes. Stating that "It would be a long time before he plays for England again" after Chris Read was dropped from the side having done little wrong in his first few performances. There are those who feel that Andrew Caddick's early departure from the side was at least partly due to Michael Vaughan and the failure of England to recall Robert Key after he set the world alight with his first stint in the side, suggested a captain (then batting at No. 4 because of a strong top 3) who didn't want to risk his place. At the weekend the decision to only bowl Ravi Bopara for 1 over was strange in the extreme. I saw no sign of an injury and barr a no-ball which went four, it was a pretty decent over.
If it is the case that Vaughan instigated the stripping of the vice-captaincy from Freddie then the England management face an uphill battle to get the team spirit back. Andrew Flintoff earnt deep respect from his fellow players during his tortuous stint as captain and Vaughan has seemingly struggled to get his big guns passionate about playing for him. Realistically there can be no change of captain before the end of the World Cup, so if England are to progress further in this tournament then Duncan Fletcher and co. need to doing some relationship building between Freddie and his skipper pretty quickly..... otherwise one more net session could decide it !!
Awesome Australia
Matthew Hayden recorded the fastest ever World Cup hundred, off just 66 balls, including 14 fours and 4 sixes, as Australia raced out of the blocks against South Africa. In fact, Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist were the joint SLOWEST scorers for the Australians, at a strike rate of 100 !
Shaun Pollock's pre-match preparation for South Africas first Super-Eights match on Wednesday may include counselling for reocurring nightmares, as he took the brunt of the brutal assault.
More worrying for the rest of the cricketing world was Ricky Ponting's post match comment that this was just another game. What happens when they get really fired up then ??!!
For me this performance makes Australia very strong favourites to retain the World Cup, though Sri Lanka, New Zealand and South Africa all remain weel in the hunt. What of England ? Though I would dearly love to see the boys lifting that trophy, I saw nothing in the win against Kenya to suggest that we are ready to compete with the big boys.
Shaun Pollock's pre-match preparation for South Africas first Super-Eights match on Wednesday may include counselling for reocurring nightmares, as he took the brunt of the brutal assault.
More worrying for the rest of the cricketing world was Ricky Ponting's post match comment that this was just another game. What happens when they get really fired up then ??!!
For me this performance makes Australia very strong favourites to retain the World Cup, though Sri Lanka, New Zealand and South Africa all remain weel in the hunt. What of England ? Though I would dearly love to see the boys lifting that trophy, I saw nothing in the win against Kenya to suggest that we are ready to compete with the big boys.
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