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England's Andrew Flintoff, on his knees, is congratulated by teammates after bowling the wicket of Australia's Peter Siddle. AAP Images
When Andrew Flintoff was announced as the man of the match following the Lords Test, I wasn’t surprised, but I felt it was lazy and predictable. Sure he played well, but better than Andrew Strauss or Graeme Swann?
What about Jimmy Anderson who took four of the first six wickets in the first innings?
I hate it when man of the match or MVP awards are simply handed out to the most high profile of the candidates.
The most egregious example which comes to mind is baseballer Keith Foulke who basically sacrificed his body and his career so the Red Sox could defeat the Yankees and then the Cardinals on their way to winning the 2004 World Series. Instead David Ortiz was named the MVP of the ALCS and Manny Ramirez the MVP of the World Series.
Giving it to Freddie was the easy was out.
If you listen to those who make the most noise, you’d think Andrew Flintoff is the greatest cricketer since Eddie Hemmings. For mind, he is a good cricketer. Definitely not a great cricketer, nor worthy of any hyperbole or superlatives.
The one achievement he could hang his hat on is that he is going perilously close to matching Brett Lee as the biggest prat following a wicket. Seriously, clean bowling a Number 9 and 10 isn’t that big of a deal.
Flintoff’s numbers are far more modest than the man himself.
From 77 matches he averages 31.71 with the bat and 33.46 against Australia. His bowling average in Ashes cricket is 30.41 compared to 32.18 overall.
For a player of his ability, he never consistently produced what he was capable of. In between leaving the sick bay, he just gave us glimpses here and there.
Only now is he realizing the value of pitching the ball up and attacking the stumps, as opposed to attacking the batsmen. You can’t be a great cricketer without a shrewd cricket brain, and this shows that in this department, Flintoff is lacking.
You can fault him for making the decision on financial grounds, but it is a shame that if he can’t play all forms of the game and has to retire from some of them, that he has chosen Test cricket.
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