Crap this allrounder!!!

Well exactly 9 months back a star fast bowler in Shane Bond retires from test cricket owing to the same reason as the current "under discussion" player Andrew Flintoff. Shane Bond had announced his retirement from test cricket owing to a back injury which he assumes makes it difficult to play the longest version of the game. Now, with Andrew Flintoff following suit, it looks as though records can hardly be bettered by the present batch of youngsters. This was all the more expected from Flintoff when he bid adieu from test cricket after the Ashes last year owing to a knee injury.

And, almost one year later from that announcement, Andrew Flintoff is now seen calling it a day from all formats of the game. This is indeed a huge blow to the cricketing world who rarely see all rounders like Andrew Flintoff make it to the international arena. Andrew Flintoff is an all rounder one of his kind with South Africa's Jacques Kallis being the only other to parallel him. However, when both their careers are compared, Kallis stands apart with more than 6 years of international cricket to his credit. The point here is not to compare anyone with Flintoff.

Instead, Flintoff needs to be cursed for not being able to give his fullest to the game which has given him fans outside England as well. Citing his achievements in international cricket would be just another boring set of words. But, I personally condemn his retirement at this age which now reads just above 32 years. Andrew Flintoff could have gone on to play for another world cup scheduled in another 6 months from now onwards. On one side of the cricketing world, there is some Sachin Tendulkar who started his international career more than a decade before Flintoff and is bound to continue even after Flintoff has retired.

Someone like Sanath Jayasuriya is all set to take the crease for the sixth time in world cup while Flintoff has just two of them to his credit. Flintoff was not even available for the third edition of the Indian Premier League earlier this year for the same reasons. Flintoff is the only bowler whi can bowl decent fast balls and also hit the ball hard with the willow. It is very rare for the cricketing world to find fast bowlers like Shane Bond and all rounders like Andrew Flintoff. But, with their limited service to the game, their entry is of hardly and cheers whatsoever.