Time To Forget About Flintoff

After turning down the incremental contract that was offered by the ECB Andrew Flintoff should not be allowed to play for his country again. It has become clear that money and not cricket is now his number one priority. Good luck to the bloke and he deserves any financial opportunities that might come his way. But please let us not have a ridiculous situation where the player picks and chooses the one day games and tournaments he is interested in participating.

When the ECB felt Kevin Pietersen was getting too big for his boots they were not having any of it. The same treatment needs dishing out to Flintoff. He either wants to play for his country or he does not. If he wants to earn lucrative sums from bungee jumping, extreme ironing, or television then he has no business being a member of the England squad. His inclusion would be an insult to his fellow players and a slap in the face of every England supporter.

He has been a hugely influential player for a number of years but not any more. These days Flintoff is a spent force. In the Ashes, he delivered one major bowling performance of any note. This only served to aggravate more injury problems and he was virtually a passenger for the rest of the series. The same thing happened in the West Indies. Domestic clubs around the World are willing to spend huge sums of money on Flintoff. They should give him a contract based on appearances because he will probably miss more games through injury than he plays.

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The One Day Cricket Farce Continues

Australia has raced into a 4-0 lead in the one day series without breaking sweat. England’s one day team look like they could not care less. The excuses have already started to emerge. James Anderson has complained about the atmosphere stating it is nothing like it was during the Ashes series. This is hardly surprising given the rubbish the spectators have paid to watch. Players could follow Flintoff’s example and try to get the crowd going but the team is full of followers instead of leaders.

Another popular excuse is that old chestnut tiredness. The funny thing about tiredness is it seems to rear its head at convenient times of the year. Funnily enough, there does not seem to be many players complaining of tiredness when the IPL is on the horizon. Paul Collingwood must have been absolutely knackered after his sting with the Delhi Daredevils.

The selection of Trott for the final Ashes test demonstrated that better players exist in the domestic game than the cosy group who fail to justify their selection. England has made the same mistakes again, and again, and again both in this series and in recent years. It is getting somewhat tedious having to watch a comedy of errors. Then you have the captain saying all the right things afterwards.

England favour a defensive approach rather than attacking the opposition. Delaying the final power play until tail-enders is at the crease defies all logic although it sums things up perfectly. Either the players cannot be bothered or they are demonstrating a lack of intelligence. If players are not performing then others should be given their opportunity. Geoff Miller talks about consistency in selection but this is a weakness when it produces endless defeats.

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