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.
Showing posts with label Andrew Flintoff. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Andrew Flintoff. Show all posts
Friday, September 17, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
Inspired By Sehwag
So far, if not for greats like Sachin Tendulkar and Muttiah Muralitharan, there have hardly been any followers for any of the existing players in international cricket. In fact, players like Dhoni and Sehwag have been inspired from Sachin Tendulkar to make it to the big stage. One has to ask Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara or Muttiah Muralitharan as to who or what on earth inspired them to take cricket as a career. Of course, though money factor exists in today's cricket, that was not the case some decade ago when Muttiah Muralitharan and Sachin Tendulkar were in their initial stages of their career.
Today's cricketers are more inspired by money and fame rather than the game or the challenges that come from within. Anyways, coming to the matter, a New Zealand cricketer Peter Ingram has said that it was after watching India's dashing opener Virender Sehwag that made him take the bat in his hands. The influence of Virender Sehwag on Ingram is to such an extent that though Peter Ingram has been repeated criticism for his lack of footwork, Ingram terms it to be the replica of his so called idol Virender Sehwag's style. If one goes by nature, their dates of birth differ by just 5 days.
At the same time, if their success in international cricket is considered, they stand way apart. Sehwag has gone too forward with two triple hundreds and six double centuries against his name in international test cricket which is bettered by only Sir Don Bradman, Walter Hammond and Brian Lara. Not even Sachin Tendulkar (Sehwag's batting idol) has been able to achieve the same in test cricket. It has been equaled by Pakistan's Javed Miandad and Sri Lanka's Marvan Attapattu, both of whom have 6 double hundreds against their names. However, this has to be justified if at all one has to believe that Sehwag is Ingram's batting idol.
Idols have to always stand apart from their followers in any field or else, who on earth would follow them? Likewise, cricketing greats like Vivian Richards, Clive Lloyd and Ian Botham have been an inspiration to batting youngsters after their retirement and so has been the case with bowlers like Shaun Pollock and Glenn McGrath. They were an inspiration after their team started making news for the good reasons. Likewise, someone like Andrew Flintoff and Craig McDermott could not be an inspiration though deserving to be so. Jonty Rhodes has hardly inspired anyone to take fielding as a career option.
Today's cricketers are more inspired by money and fame rather than the game or the challenges that come from within. Anyways, coming to the matter, a New Zealand cricketer Peter Ingram has said that it was after watching India's dashing opener Virender Sehwag that made him take the bat in his hands. The influence of Virender Sehwag on Ingram is to such an extent that though Peter Ingram has been repeated criticism for his lack of footwork, Ingram terms it to be the replica of his so called idol Virender Sehwag's style. If one goes by nature, their dates of birth differ by just 5 days.
At the same time, if their success in international cricket is considered, they stand way apart. Sehwag has gone too forward with two triple hundreds and six double centuries against his name in international test cricket which is bettered by only Sir Don Bradman, Walter Hammond and Brian Lara. Not even Sachin Tendulkar (Sehwag's batting idol) has been able to achieve the same in test cricket. It has been equaled by Pakistan's Javed Miandad and Sri Lanka's Marvan Attapattu, both of whom have 6 double hundreds against their names. However, this has to be justified if at all one has to believe that Sehwag is Ingram's batting idol.
Idols have to always stand apart from their followers in any field or else, who on earth would follow them? Likewise, cricketing greats like Vivian Richards, Clive Lloyd and Ian Botham have been an inspiration to batting youngsters after their retirement and so has been the case with bowlers like Shaun Pollock and Glenn McGrath. They were an inspiration after their team started making news for the good reasons. Likewise, someone like Andrew Flintoff and Craig McDermott could not be an inspiration though deserving to be so. Jonty Rhodes has hardly inspired anyone to take fielding as a career option.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
A Cool First Day For England
Well..finally there was a bit relief for me that finally I could watch some great cricketing action. At the same time, I was afraid for ending up watching a boring and colourless encounter, wherein team England would succumb to the sub-continent conditions, and also owing to lack of match practice, it was all believed that a boring encounter is always going to be on the cards. But, thank god..that was not the case. England showed that they were the creators of the game of cricket way back in the eighteenth century. However, this is still not enough. I wish there is still some greater action to come in the days ahead of the test series
For the exception of Andrew Strauss and Alister Cook, the rest of the English batsmen weren't up to the mark. And on the part of the Indians, they just showed that they were the home team and had always had an upper hand in the test series. The match was a perfect mixture of some great cricketing shots, good bowling from the Indian counterparts, a wrong decision that bought frustration in the eyes of the Englishmen, when Paul Collingwood was given out caught behind to a delivery that was found to miss the gloves by some 6 inches. Something that favoured the English batsman was the toss that Kevin Pietersen won and chose to bat. Otherwise, I guess things would have been different.
There is still four more days to go in this trest match, things may or may not be the same. England might get back to their basics of getting their tactics wrong, thus, in the process falling prey to Indian hunters. Spin, that has always been a problem for Western countries, may once again put pressure on the English batsmen. Likewise, a hint of the same was observed, when Yuvraj Singh made an impact no different compared to regular spinners- Harbhajan Singh or Amit Mishra for that matter. And I wish the way Zaheer Khan posed threats to the English batsmen during India's tour to England in 2007, is still in the minds of the English batsman. This is evident for the first day's play, when Zaheer Khan had Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell in his wickets tally.
It looked as though lack of practice for the English batsmen didn't prove to be a major set back, taking into consideration their run on day 1. This could also be attributed to the pitch, that was seen to be a batsmen's paradise, with the earlier match having Virender Sehwag scoring his second triple hundred and had recorded totals of 540 and 647. So, assuming that England had the upper hand on day 1's play might be just an illusion. And one should not forget the depth in India's batting line up, which is needless to be said. As an Indian fan, an Indian victory is always welcome. But, an equal resistance from the opposition would be a treat to watch. I wish England plays the game with full determination, showing their courage and power. So do the Indians.
For the exception of Andrew Strauss and Alister Cook, the rest of the English batsmen weren't up to the mark. And on the part of the Indians, they just showed that they were the home team and had always had an upper hand in the test series. The match was a perfect mixture of some great cricketing shots, good bowling from the Indian counterparts, a wrong decision that bought frustration in the eyes of the Englishmen, when Paul Collingwood was given out caught behind to a delivery that was found to miss the gloves by some 6 inches. Something that favoured the English batsman was the toss that Kevin Pietersen won and chose to bat. Otherwise, I guess things would have been different.
There is still four more days to go in this trest match, things may or may not be the same. England might get back to their basics of getting their tactics wrong, thus, in the process falling prey to Indian hunters. Spin, that has always been a problem for Western countries, may once again put pressure on the English batsmen. Likewise, a hint of the same was observed, when Yuvraj Singh made an impact no different compared to regular spinners- Harbhajan Singh or Amit Mishra for that matter. And I wish the way Zaheer Khan posed threats to the English batsmen during India's tour to England in 2007, is still in the minds of the English batsman. This is evident for the first day's play, when Zaheer Khan had Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell in his wickets tally.
It looked as though lack of practice for the English batsmen didn't prove to be a major set back, taking into consideration their run on day 1. This could also be attributed to the pitch, that was seen to be a batsmen's paradise, with the earlier match having Virender Sehwag scoring his second triple hundred and had recorded totals of 540 and 647. So, assuming that England had the upper hand on day 1's play might be just an illusion. And one should not forget the depth in India's batting line up, which is needless to be said. As an Indian fan, an Indian victory is always welcome. But, an equal resistance from the opposition would be a treat to watch. I wish England plays the game with full determination, showing their courage and power. So do the Indians.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Finally The Flight Takes Off !!!
After much speculations regarding the continuation of the India-England test series, finally, it is really nice to see the India-England first test above to take off at Chepauk stadium in Chennai. This gave much relief to atleast me, for, days and weeks altogether without international cricketing action kept me cursing me all these days. So, finally, thanks to the Chennai test which I believe will go ahead successfully, without any weather interuptions and security fears. Lets all hope that there will be a good contest between India and England team, with both of them putting up a tough fight to overcome the opposition, unlike the English team did in the one day series, by losing all five games without any resistance.
I wish the lack of practice for the English team would not mind them from putting up a better performance what-so-ever. For, where there is a will, there is a way. This could be drawn from the fact that team India won the inaugural T20 world cup at South Africa without a permanent coach. With players like Andrew Flintoff, Kevin Pietersen, Steve Harmison, Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood and others, the England team should not be complaining at all, as far as their talent goes. If the England team is given a glance, it looks a rather balanced team. We all hope that the weather gods do not come in the way of a fantastic encounter out there at the Chepauk stadium.
For the first time, the Indian team will take on the field without Sourav Ganguly. Even the pinch of missing Anil Kumble will be felt deeply by the fans I guess. And, for heaven's sake, the only delight being is the presence of Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and V V S Laxman, whom we have been seeing for a decade or so. Irrespective of their form and fitness, their absense will be really felt. Obviously, team India is bound to have an upper hand in the series, and it is upto England to make use of the talent in the team, keeping in mind the lack of weakness in the Indian side.
If the recent past is considered, none of the teams, barring India have played really good and decent cricket. Even the mighty Aussies were found striking a bad patch during their tour of India. Not only for losing the series, but, also for showing no signs of chasing targets and defending their low totals. Matches are won in such a way that neither the winning team rejoices nor the losing team gets humiliated. Neither the losing team makes up its mind to be in the driver's seat in the coming games, thus drawing lessons from the previous one. Now, I hope that the days of drought in cricket are over with the India-England teams resuming their tours.The best of all cricketing action is yet to come.Cheers!!!
I wish the lack of practice for the English team would not mind them from putting up a better performance what-so-ever. For, where there is a will, there is a way. This could be drawn from the fact that team India won the inaugural T20 world cup at South Africa without a permanent coach. With players like Andrew Flintoff, Kevin Pietersen, Steve Harmison, Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood and others, the England team should not be complaining at all, as far as their talent goes. If the England team is given a glance, it looks a rather balanced team. We all hope that the weather gods do not come in the way of a fantastic encounter out there at the Chepauk stadium.
For the first time, the Indian team will take on the field without Sourav Ganguly. Even the pinch of missing Anil Kumble will be felt deeply by the fans I guess. And, for heaven's sake, the only delight being is the presence of Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and V V S Laxman, whom we have been seeing for a decade or so. Irrespective of their form and fitness, their absense will be really felt. Obviously, team India is bound to have an upper hand in the series, and it is upto England to make use of the talent in the team, keeping in mind the lack of weakness in the Indian side.
If the recent past is considered, none of the teams, barring India have played really good and decent cricket. Even the mighty Aussies were found striking a bad patch during their tour of India. Not only for losing the series, but, also for showing no signs of chasing targets and defending their low totals. Matches are won in such a way that neither the winning team rejoices nor the losing team gets humiliated. Neither the losing team makes up its mind to be in the driver's seat in the coming games, thus drawing lessons from the previous one. Now, I hope that the days of drought in cricket are over with the India-England teams resuming their tours.The best of all cricketing action is yet to come.Cheers!!!
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
How Long Will This Hide & Seek Go On?
Well since that sixth and seventh one day matches between India and England got canceled, there has always been hide and seek whether or not to go ahead with the series. And each day I open the newspaper to get the latest progress about the series, I end up finding something new and something different from what I read in the earlier ones. And the news right now is that the first test between England and India will be, by all means played on the scheduled date itself that is on the 11th of this month. And, I am not yet sure about this, atleast until the series not only takes off, but also until the second test ends.
Now, the news is that Andrew Flintoff and Steve Harmison will be joining the squad for the test series. The two had decided to stay off from the tour fearing security concerns.Well that is always welcome. And another doubt that as arisen in the minds of the English team is that "how far is Mohali, which is close to the borders of Pakistan, safe for playing, as far as the England team is concerned?" And the recent cyclone (as I've already said in many of my earlier posts) in Chennai is always a threat to the game going on smoothly. So, I ask to myself is "whether the series will really take off?"
The speculation is true indeed, for the vanue in Mohali is no different from Ahmedabad, for, both the venues are close to Pakistan borders. And even to this moment I can't understand as to what would the English cricket team get in return, for choosing Abu Dhabi as a venue to carry on their practice games? Are the conditions in Abu Dhabi same as that in India, or atleast in the venues that are scheduled in India? Likewise, Sri Lanka would have been a better place for them to practice for their upcoming Indian tour. Now, if the recent newspaper reports are to be believed, talks are on for the Mohali test to be held either in Bangalore or Hyderabad. So, what next?
I wonder as to what will be the outcome of such a tour, where the English team's focus is all regarding the security, which is not at all their cup of tea. Rather than concentrating on cricket, much of the fuss is being made on the security concerns. I wish they would have got answers, when the security cover was so tight that even the media persons were not given a free pass. Is the seurity issue still haunting team England? If yes, I wish you guys pack up your bags. With hardly any practice for the upcoming tour, I wish as to that the English players will give in the matches to come. Already, the England team are yet to come out of the 5-0 whitewash they suffered in the in one day series. And if their recent test performance is considered, they have no reason to feel comfortable, for they lost the last test series to South Africa.
Well, at the end of the day, as a cricket fan, all I would be lookingis for some really decent, entertaining action from not only the Indian side, but also the English side. And I just hope that the teams out there will be just doing that. So, all I would be doing for these two days is to just wait until the series takes off in style and in patience.
Now, the news is that Andrew Flintoff and Steve Harmison will be joining the squad for the test series. The two had decided to stay off from the tour fearing security concerns.Well that is always welcome. And another doubt that as arisen in the minds of the English team is that "how far is Mohali, which is close to the borders of Pakistan, safe for playing, as far as the England team is concerned?" And the recent cyclone (as I've already said in many of my earlier posts) in Chennai is always a threat to the game going on smoothly. So, I ask to myself is "whether the series will really take off?"
The speculation is true indeed, for the vanue in Mohali is no different from Ahmedabad, for, both the venues are close to Pakistan borders. And even to this moment I can't understand as to what would the English cricket team get in return, for choosing Abu Dhabi as a venue to carry on their practice games? Are the conditions in Abu Dhabi same as that in India, or atleast in the venues that are scheduled in India? Likewise, Sri Lanka would have been a better place for them to practice for their upcoming Indian tour. Now, if the recent newspaper reports are to be believed, talks are on for the Mohali test to be held either in Bangalore or Hyderabad. So, what next?
I wonder as to what will be the outcome of such a tour, where the English team's focus is all regarding the security, which is not at all their cup of tea. Rather than concentrating on cricket, much of the fuss is being made on the security concerns. I wish they would have got answers, when the security cover was so tight that even the media persons were not given a free pass. Is the seurity issue still haunting team England? If yes, I wish you guys pack up your bags. With hardly any practice for the upcoming tour, I wish as to that the English players will give in the matches to come. Already, the England team are yet to come out of the 5-0 whitewash they suffered in the in one day series. And if their recent test performance is considered, they have no reason to feel comfortable, for they lost the last test series to South Africa.
Well, at the end of the day, as a cricket fan, all I would be lookingis for some really decent, entertaining action from not only the Indian side, but also the English side. And I just hope that the teams out there will be just doing that. So, all I would be doing for these two days is to just wait until the series takes off in style and in patience.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Sun Starts Rising In Englend Atlast
High hopes of the England cricket team winning the test series was shattered when they lost the first two of the four test match series.Well,this was not expected though from the England team.And when most of us (if not all) thought it would be South Africa who would walk away with the one day series as well.this was only to be deceived.And what a captain the team has chosen!A captain who was found to play his captain's knock in the beginning of his career as captain.The captain also forced Steve Harmison against retiring from one day internationals.Looks like the words of the former England captain Michael Vaughan which said "I want 11 captains on the field" is turning out to be reality.
Pietersen's knock of 90 off just 82 balls in addition to his unbeaten 158 run partnership with Andrew Flintoff in just 21 overs at a run rate of just below an over was one of the finest way to start off his career as a captain.The question at the moment is "how long will he continue to do the good work?".If this continues atleast till the end of the series against South Africa,it would be worth the praise.The trump card of the day for England's batting was that they never lost wickets at regular intervals and batted patiently until it was really time to call the shots.Thus by blasting 94 runs from the last 10 overs.
And if this wasn't enough,the duo also had something to offer with the bat as well.For,both the batsmen who put up a huge partnership of 158,shared 4 wickets between them.Two each to both Pietersen and Flintoff.This coming at a time when the England team just needed.In other words,the England bowlers got crucial wickets whenever they wanted.Whenever the South African batsmen were found to cut loose,even the England bowlers were found cutting.All South African batsmen were found putting up the same performance.Hats off to the team effort.
Every batsman who took to the crease tried his best to over power the England bowlers.The going was easy in the beginning when Smith and Gibbs put up a score of 50 in the first 8 overs and when the second wicket fell, the scoreboard reading 93/2 after 15.4 overs.It was then only that the batting debacle started happening.But,South Africa did what England didn't.Lost wickets at regular intervals and also the match at the end of the day.
It looks like South Africa is the best opponent Pietersen.May be because this is his motherland for,he played the series of his life also against the same team amassing 500+ runs in 2005.
Pietersen's knock of 90 off just 82 balls in addition to his unbeaten 158 run partnership with Andrew Flintoff in just 21 overs at a run rate of just below an over was one of the finest way to start off his career as a captain.The question at the moment is "how long will he continue to do the good work?".If this continues atleast till the end of the series against South Africa,it would be worth the praise.The trump card of the day for England's batting was that they never lost wickets at regular intervals and batted patiently until it was really time to call the shots.Thus by blasting 94 runs from the last 10 overs.
And if this wasn't enough,the duo also had something to offer with the bat as well.For,both the batsmen who put up a huge partnership of 158,shared 4 wickets between them.Two each to both Pietersen and Flintoff.This coming at a time when the England team just needed.In other words,the England bowlers got crucial wickets whenever they wanted.Whenever the South African batsmen were found to cut loose,even the England bowlers were found cutting.All South African batsmen were found putting up the same performance.Hats off to the team effort.
Every batsman who took to the crease tried his best to over power the England bowlers.The going was easy in the beginning when Smith and Gibbs put up a score of 50 in the first 8 overs and when the second wicket fell, the scoreboard reading 93/2 after 15.4 overs.It was then only that the batting debacle started happening.But,South Africa did what England didn't.Lost wickets at regular intervals and also the match at the end of the day.
It looks like South Africa is the best opponent Pietersen.May be because this is his motherland for,he played the series of his life also against the same team amassing 500+ runs in 2005.
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