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Flintoff: should he, shouldn’t he?
By Will Saturday, last week, 9 Comments »
Apologies for the lack of updates. I’ve been down in sunny, rainy, windy Hove. While I was down there, much discussion took place in the press box about Mike Atherton’s debut as The Times’ chief cricket correspondent, namely his interview with Michael Vaughan. The England captain alluded to the likelihood of Andrew Flintoff returning for the first Test against New Zealand, which most media outlets picked up on.
I think it’s both inevitable that it will happen, and a positive for England. I am less convinced he will survive the whole summer - on landing, his ankle still points awkwardly and unnaturally away to the off side, which can only exhaserbate the problems he has had - but I’d rather he broke down playing for England than Lancashire. He’s bowled well enough for his club so far this season, and although he’s not scored any runs, his influence with the ball is still great enough to warrant his inclusion. Hell, Justin Langer - no stranger to OTT remarks - still considers him the best fast bowler in the world, though that was on the back of receiving a battering from Flintoff last week.
So where do you stand? Should Fred play the first Test, or bide his time with Lancashire until the South Africans arrive? Leave a comment and vote at the site.
9 Comments »Ashley Giles doubt for India
By Will 2 years ago, at the end of January, 10 Comments »
Looks like Ashley Giles won’t be fit for England’s tour of India. Ian Blackwell or Monty Panesar? Discuss
10 Comments »Who says cricketers aren’t fit?
By Will 3 years ago, mid-May, No Comments; be the first!
IMG_1152
Photo taken by Johnnie Shannon @ Flickr.com.
Saw this and had to blog it! Great photo - who says we’re not streamlined atheletes!?
No Comments »Makhaya Ntini
By Will 3 years ago, at the start of May, No Comments; be the first!
It’s quite obvious just watching Ntini bowl and field that he’s incredibly fit. However - I’ve just heard that yesterday he did 15 laps of the Antigua ground after play! Quite incredible.
No Comments »Flintoff stretches his legs (and arms)
By Will 3 years ago, at the end of April, No Comments; be the first!
Good news for all - Flintoff’s back. Well - if not 100% fully fit, he’s at least making excellent progress, and today hit an 83 in quick time. Stuart Law (now British) matched him run for run, but their stats make enjoyable reading:
Law:
83(r) 201(m) 152(b) 15(4s) 0(6s)
Flintoff:
83(r) 121(m) 101(b) 10(4s) 4(6s)
Good job, too, that he found some form as Lancashire needed to combat Worcestershire’s decent score, on a difficult pitch. Theirs was only thanks to Graeme Hick who hit a Hick-like 176 (next highest score? 27), and who overtook W.G.Grace in making his 127th first class hundred. Graham Gooch is next on 128……………………
(Will shakes his head, mutters into the night, wondering just how the hell this guy never made more than 6 Test hundreds)
No Comments »The rough with the smooth
By Will 3 years ago, at the end of March, 3 Comments »
This article (on why Golfers have it so easy) brought back a heated debate I had a year+ ago with a mate about why, in my opinion, cricketers as sportsmen and athletes that they deserve.
The strain put on bowlers has, in the last few years, been quite well documented in the media and rightly so. Given the incessant schedules these days of international cricket, frequency has meant “body breakdown” for fast bowlers. “Even” spinners like Warne and Murali have had quite serious surgical procedures to cure ailing wrists and shoulders. And, my trump card in these arguments: would a footballer play in 35c heat for 7 hours? I think not.
Only the other day, England A coach Rod Marsh was excusing his player’s performances against Sri Lanka blaming a lack of fitness and training. Which is of course down to the heat that cricketers have to endure. England’s “footballers” played Portugal some months ago, and a TV commentator remarked how tough it would be for them, playing in 23c heat. Well, try 35c heat for a whole day mate! It’s about time they were respected more in the media - the sense of “oh, it’s a jolly fine game is Cricket - a lovely pleasant game” is, I think, still quite prominent in the administration of English cricket, and this rubs off in the media.
Look at someone like Brett Lee, Simon Jones, The Bastard (McGrath), Ponting and Andrew Flintoff. The work they put it to reach a level of fitness is extreme, and I often wonder whether the media give them due credit.
3 Comments »South Africa got the runs
By Will 4 years ago, mid-December, No Comments; be the first!
Like the pun? I thought it was quite good for me 
I of course refer to the other type of runs. [via Cricinfo]
South Africa’s cricketers are not finding it easy to stay fit for the first Test against England at Port Elizabeth that starts on Friday, December 17. Six of them are suffering from illness or injury.
Boeta Dippenar has food poisioning while Graeme Smith, Zander de Bruyn and Andrew Hall are all a bit tender in the stomach, according to the Johannesburg-based newspaper The Star. Thami Tsolekile has tonsillitis and their front-line spinner Nicky Boje, who, unlike the others, did not go to India, is still recovering from surgery to remove a growth from the thyroid gland.
“We’re taking it day by day, but we have to remember Nicky is also suffering a bit from the effects of the medication he’s using,” said Shane Jabaar, the team physiotherapist. “Nicky’s heart-rate is still very high and he gets tired quite quickly, but we’re giving him a chance to show he’s ok. But we’re certainly not going to push him.”
Ray Jennings, the national coach, was also unwilling to say whether Boje will be fit for the first Test. “He’s getting better, but we’ll have a look at him in two days’ time,” he admitted. “He’s mature and old enough to know if he’s up to playing.” But he also went on to say: “I’m not at all concerned about which 11 play.”
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