Andrew Flintoff announced that he would quit playing Test matches at the end of the Ashes series. He will be available to play for England in the shorter formats of the game.
Though Flintoff has declared that he is quitting Test cricket to prolong his cricketing career, one cannot bring oneself to deride him. Unlike others, Flintoff has undergone four ankle operations as well as suffering back, hip, shoulder and groin problems.
This catalogue of injuries as one columnist describes it, surely indicates that his body is collapsing under the strain. Flintoff carries another burden, the burden of expectations. Every time he takes the field, the nation expects him to do the star turn. Coupled with his injuries, the burden would have proved heavy for even a man as broad shouldered as he is, to bear.
Let us not deride him for his eagerness to continue playing in the shorter format of the game. May be the opportunity to let loose without the fear of injuries may well see him play to his undeniable potential?
Though Flintoff has declared that he is quitting Test cricket to prolong his cricketing career, one cannot bring oneself to deride him. Unlike others, Flintoff has undergone four ankle operations as well as suffering back, hip, shoulder and groin problems.
This catalogue of injuries as one columnist describes it, surely indicates that his body is collapsing under the strain. Flintoff carries another burden, the burden of expectations. Every time he takes the field, the nation expects him to do the star turn. Coupled with his injuries, the burden would have proved heavy for even a man as broad shouldered as he is, to bear.
Let us not deride him for his eagerness to continue playing in the shorter format of the game. May be the opportunity to let loose without the fear of injuries may well see him play to his undeniable potential?
13 comments:
wise decision and good riddance for england...now they can concentrate on tests more without keeping an eye on flintoff's side show...
Pan,
Then who will be their talisman?:)
i think you are forgetting KP...with flintoff gone all the attention will be on him...which he always wanted...
I forgot KP, but somehow he does not appear 'talismanic':)
I think England haven't managed KP well. Right now he can go either way....disintegrate into mediocrity that is so typical of English cricket or force himself on to the team now that Flintoff is gone.
I am all for cricketers pursuing T20 for the love of money. Honestly what's wrong with that? Very soon there will be a day when a Test Cricketer will say. I want to focus on T20 for the money.
Lets not be swayed....the only reason a Tuffey or a Flintoff are open to ending their Test careers early is because of T20. If there were no IPL he would have stuck it out in Test Cricket. And I say more power to such thinking because this will force the ICC to make Test Matches a better product for the masses.
G,
I am at variance with making Test cricket for the masses. I think it would be better to stop dumbing down Test cricket and make it more exclusive.
As others have argued and you yourself have said many a times, I think Test cricket or rather pointless ones have caused a revulsion.
Let us make Test cricket exclusive.
As for KP he will quit as soon as he gets his 'value' from the T20 games organisers.
Whether you dumb down TC or make it exclusive. It has to be a product that can be independently sustainable in the market. And to sustain it, it needs a steady supply of new fans over generations. This may not be an issue in Eng, Australia and SA but in Asia and other markets there is no real "tradition" associated with TC to supply new fans.
Also I strongly object to the notion that making something consumable for the masses is somehow dumbing it. The wisdom is in the crowd. Not with the exclusive experts. Adapting TC to the masses in my view is making TC smarter.
And what's so "smart" about a game any way that allows a team on the ropes to employ time wasting tactics in quest of a "no result" and glory in the eyes of their countrymen. The masses say....if you are going to play over 5 days at least form rules that can maximize the possibility of a result. Is this a dumb request?
G,
I did not say that it is a dumb request.:)
And largely my comment was meant for those who were trying to tinker with the format of the game. For instance trying to usher in 4 days Tests and the like.
What needs to be done in order to make Tests exciting and garner new devotees, is removing archaic laws, improving over rates and develop sporting wickets.
If I am not mistaken if a wicket is sporting we will see high quality matches.Yes, it will seperate the chaff from the wheat. The match may end early, but it will clearly show up who is the best thus eliminating the need for a Test Championship.
BETTER THAN GETTING DROPPED.
O, Couldn't agree more....
Lviss,
I am with you on this.
G,
Glad you are with me.:)
TEST CRICKET AS A PRODUCT IS BEGINNING TO ROT. IF THEY HAD ONLY MADE IT AN EVENLY BALANCED BAT AND BALL GAME INSTEAD OF A COMPLETE BAT GAME THIS WOULD NOT HAVE COME ABOUT..
T20 WILL TEMPT MORE CRICKETERS TO QUIT TESTS AND DECLARE THEIR PREFERANCE FOR T20.
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