Australian captain Ricky Ponting says the Andrew Flintoff farewell tour could prove to be a distraction for England for the rest of the Ashes series.
The allrounder dropped a bombshell on the eve of the second clash at Lord’s by announcing his retirement from Test cricket at the end of the series.
That decision is set to ignite a wave of goodwill across the country for the enormously popular Flintoff but it also comes with its drawbacks according to Ponting.
The skipper was in the side that had to deal with all the hype surrounding Steve Waugh’s farewell home Test series in 2003-04.
Australia struggled to assert their superiority in that series and ended up drawing 1-1 with a resilient Indian side.
“If he ends up playing the remainder of the series I’m sure there’ll be some outside distractions for the England team to deal with no matter if Andrew wanted it that way or not,” Ponting said.
“I’ve been in teams where it’s happened in Australia as well and it can be distracting, not just for the person involved but for the captain as well.
“They could have those issues to deal with but that’s for them and we’ll see what happens.”
The defiant Lancastrian declared himself ready to inspire his teammates by playing through the pain barrier for four more Tests in an attempt to thwart Australia one last time.
“I will put my body through anything to get through the next four matches,” he said.
Flintoff has already had injections on his troublesome right knee and is still in some doubt for the match at the home of cricket.
He said his creaking body could no longer cope with the demands of the longest form of the game and had discussed his retirement plans in recent times with the likes of Shane Warne and Ian Botham.
England’s lead act in their 2005 Ashes triumph will continue to play one-day internationals and international Twenty20 fixtures.
But first of all he said he wanted to regain the Ashes.
“It would be nice to finish on a high and that would be a perfect way to end a career,” he said of a series win.
After making his Test debut for England against South Africa in 1998, the 31-year-old has enjoyed a colourful career for his country.
The high point was his brilliant showing during the 2005 Ashes campaign as his performances with both bat and ball inspired the home side to its memorable victory.
There were the lows in leading England to a 5-0 defeat in Australia in the return series in 2006-07 and his drunken escapades during the 2007 World Cup.
His crumbling body has stalled his progress since 2005.
“I would have liked to have kicked on (after 2005). I don’t have any regrets that it did not carry on a bit longer,” he said.
“I am happy.”
England captain Andrew Strauss thought having made the decision that Flintoff would be in a much better state of mind for the rest of the series.
“In a way I think he will be relieved that it is out there and he can now just get on with it,” Strauss said.
Flintoff has had a catalogue of complaints, including hip, foot, knee and ankle problems.
He has scored 3708 runs at 31.69 and taken 219 wickets at 32.51 in his 76-Test career.
Strauss said Flintoff deserved to go out in style.
“He has had a dramatic impact on England cricket in the last few years, there is no doubt about that with the way he has batted,” Strauss said.
“The style with which he has batted.
“For a long period he has been the opposition bowler in world cricket they would least like facing and maybe pure figures don’t show that.
“And also the personality, he has done a huge amount of good for the game by the way he has played with a smile on his face.”
ANDREW FLINTOFF
Born: December 6, 1977
Age: 31Batting
Matches: 76
Runs: 3708
Average: 31.69
100s: 5
Highest score: 167Bowling
Wickets: 219
Avge: 32.51
5wkts in innings: 2
Best bowling in innings: 5-58
Choppy
Guest
Greg, Completely agree and knew that comment would come back to bite me, but I thought it would be after Johnson got a pair rather than his bowling which was probably the worst I've seen him bowl for Australia. I think you are right in saying Johnson needs alot of bowling, if he keeps up what he dished out yesterday he might be out there bowling all day today as well. His arm is getting very low, his release point is almost over the stumps, apparently he swung a few late yesterday. Unfortunately both he and Siddle are not bowling anywhere near the best and with Hauritz hurt, I only hope the Aussies get these 4 wickets quickly so the bowler can relax for a couple of days.
Dave
Guest
Steve Waugh's farewell seemed to go on forever and looked to be a distraction for Australia.
Greg Russell
Roar Guru
Chop, "Mitchell Johnson who in my opinion has the ability to be a better all-rounder than Flintoff" I agree in principle, but not on present bowling form ... I didn't watch last night, but from reading today I believe I missed a sensationally bad bowling effort by Mitchell. This does not surprise me all that much, because he bowled a lot of pies in Cardiff, and bowlers do not come good overnight. It has been apparent to me for quite some time that Mitchell is a bowler who thrives on work and that resting, or being put in cotton wool, is bad for his bowling. Knowing Australia's luck so far in this series, Johnson will probably be hitting his best bowling form by the second innings of the the fifth test!
Chop
Roar Guru
Greg I agree, he's a guy that had one sensational series against Australia in the 2005 ashes but never reached any other real heights after threatening to be one of the best players in the world. I think England liked playing him because they had 5 bowlers in the team where most countries tend to only include 4. I'm glad Australia haven't made the same mistake with Mitchell Johnson who in my opinion has the ability to be a better all-rounder than Flintoff. Australia don't need to put the pressure on him by moving him up the order, there may be a time in the future where that is an option but I like the gentler approach by the Australians.
Greg Russell
Roar Guru
I am big believer in the value of statistics, but when one sees that a bowler as good as Flintoff only has a test bowling average of 32.5, one has to be honest and admit that some statistics fall far short of telling the full story. Flintoff has been a much, much more influential bowler than is conveyed by this bowling average, just as Kallis has been a far less influential batsman than his test average of 55 implies. For what it's worth, my theory on Flintoff is that England got it wrong by batting him at 6. This conveys that he is a batting all-rounder, i.e., a batsman who bowls a bit. The reality is that he is a far better bowler than he is batsman, so he should have batted at 7 or 8, the position of a bowling all-rounder. By batting him at 6, his bowling figures became self-fulfilling. Having said the above, I do acknowledge that for much of Flintoff's career, he simply wasn't fit enough to play as a specialist bowler who bats a bit. What England should have done in this situation is not play him at all.
Brett McKay
Guest
we can only hope so Tom...