Freddie to retire after the Ashes

[aussie]

So what happens to Freddie's central contract? Generally one-day only players just get an incremental deal, but you've never really had the key ODI player not being part of the Test team.

Create a special "Freddie Contract".

 

[GIMH]

Haha, not a bad idea at all

 

[aussie]

I can't really see how Patel can be said to be conclusively not worth a try while Bell is; Bell has failed countless times in Tests, Patel has yet to play any. Now of course, so far this season Bell has scored outstandingly and Patel has barely got a run, so obviously right now Bell should be ahead.

However, with all things being equal between the two, Bell has the demerit of being a previous failure; Patel does not.

As for Denly and Key, neither are comparable to Bell and Patel; they're openers. And Denly is still yet to produce with anywhere near the required regularity to suggest he's Test material. Having had my first real look at him technically in a real game of cricket (ie, four-dayer) in the Lions-Australia match, I can be relatively confident there is no major technical glitch anywhere.

Patel aint test quality, he barely can hold a role in the ODI set-up. He is another example of what i keep saying. That the standard of cricket in CC is average in many area's, even though the structure is solid. You really have to what what bowling attacks he was facing to average more than 50.

On Denly & Key. There could be the option to open with one of them & bring Cook down to # 3, since Bopara techincally cant handle that position long term, would have him back down @ 6.

Bell oh rass, such a wasted talented. We really should be banishing him, but like in the 90s with Hick & Ramprakash. We are going to be stuck with him for a while yet. Unless MAYBE, Morgan the next foreign talent does a Pietersen in the coming years.

 

[Richard]

So what happens to Freddie's central contract? Generally one-day only players just get an incremental deal, but you've never really had the key ODI player not being part of the Test team.

Well there was - Nick Knight. What happened? He didn't get a central contract - not once. In his day there was a full contract or nothing - no incremental deals.

It'll be very interesting indeed to see what happens.

 

[Richard]

Patel aint test quality, he barely can hold a role in the ODI set-up. He is another example of what i keep saying. That the standard of cricket in CC is average in many area's, even though the structure is solid. You really have to what what bowling attacks he was facing to average more than 50.

There's no way to say at the current time whether Patel is Test-standard or not. That he has been unable to carve-out a ODI role as a specialist spinner proves precisely nothing whatsoever.

Until such a time as Patel forces his way irrefutably into the Test team, we have no way of knowing whether he's Test-class or not. He's one hell of a lot more likely to be than Anthony McGrath was, and McGrath managed to get picked. There are many names besides. Patel deserves a Test chance far more than most in the country at the current time.

On Denly & Key. There could be the option to open with one of them & bring Cook down to # 3, since Bopara techincally cant handle that position long term, would have him back down @ 6.

I suppose that is a possibility, but I'd not bet on it. I doubt anyone will want to split-up Strauss and Cook.

Bell oh rass, such a wasted talented. We really should be banishing him, but like in the 90s with Hick & Ramprakash. We are going to be stuck with him for a while yet. Unless MAYBE, Morgan the next foreign talent does a Pietersen in the coming years.

Morgan's hardly foreign - he's Irish. And yes we might well be stuck with Bell for a while yet, or there's even the tiny outside chance that he might suddenly finally become Test-class like we've been waiting for him to do for the best part of 7 years.

 

[GIMH]

Well there was - Nick Knight. What happened? He didn't get a central contract - not once. In his day there was a full contract or nothing - no incremental deals.

It'll be very interesting indeed to see what happens.

Yeah, I meant since incrementals started, though then again they've only been around for a season or two

 

[Richard]

You know, thinking about Flintoff it's amazing that he'll go down as so much better a Test cricketer than Craig White, yet White was so much more talented with bat and ball.

Funny how these things work-out sometimes isn't it?

 

[TT Boy]

Is there not a possibility these players will lose their Kolpak contracts and revert to being South African again?

Faf might, there is some concern from him that he will next season but Rudolph shouldn't have a problem getting a visa as he is an ex-international player. Now that Tyron has an IPL deal, he may not go another year in county cricket and just play IPL and domestic South African cricket as a domestic player, not overseas. But the problem is all three players have already been registered (as overseas players) and Fred is only able to play in the Pro20 but Tyron will be around for that and the MTN Championship. Whilst Faf and Jacques will play in all three comps, so kicking one of them to the curb wasn't an option for Pybus.

 

[superkingdave]

Rudolph should be in trouble under the new rules...he won't have played international cricket for nearly 4 years. Think the rules are now at least 1 test in the last 2 years or 15 ODI/IT20's.

 

[TT Boy]

He could be. Justin Kemp had great difficulty getting a visa for this season (as did Kent's coach, Graham Ford) but Rudolph's wife is a doctor, who I believe works in the UK, so maybe he will be ok.

 

[shivfan]

with the IPL contract that he has, surely he will play for some more time

but is the press conference already started they have not confirmed from which he is retiring though

Yet another player who sees 20/20 cricket as more important than Test cricket....

Funny, but when Gayle says it, he's crucified at the nearest cross in England. At least Gayle was being honest....

 

[shivfan]

You know, thinking about Flintoff it's amazing that he'll go down as so much better a Test cricketer than Craig White, yet White was so much more talented with bat and ball.

Funny how these things work-out sometimes isn't it?

To me, Flintoff was a good allrounder, without reaching the stage where he could be classified as great. Yeah, he had one or two outstanding years, but it takes more than that to achieve greatness.

A Test batting average of 31 and a test bowling average of 32 is a bit disappointing, given Freddie's talent, IMHO....

 

[GIMH]

Yet another player who sees 20/20 cricket as more important than Test cricket....

Funny, but when Gayle says it, he's crucified at the nearest cross in England. At least Gayle was being honest....

How do people not get that this isn't about what is more important but about what his body is capable of?

 

[Richard]

To me, Flintoff was a good allrounder, without reaching the stage where he could be classified as great. Yeah, he had one or two outstanding years, but it takes more than that to achieve greatness.

A Test batting average of 31 and a test bowling average of 32 is a bit disappointing, given Freddie's talent, IMHO....

Personally I think Flintoff achieved about what could have been expected with the bat (bashing crap bowling, not often doing that well against good bowling but occasionally, gloriously raising his game). I never, at any stage, rated him a particularly good batsman in the longer form of the game. With the ball he took a long time to turn into the outstanding bowler he probably should've been a year or two earlier, but did still have a lengthy period of excellent performance. However, the chances of this lasting longer than it did were ruined by a self-imposed injury.

I'm no massive fan of the word "great" these days TBH, seems to imply some sort of mystical aura or such nonsense. Flintoff was an outstanding all-rounder for 3 or 4 years. That in itself is an achievement beyond most, but one that a good few all-rounders down the years have indeed bettered. Flintoff is well behind the likes of Miller, Imran Khan, Sobers, Botham, Kapil, Noble, Procter, etc. But the fact that he was as good as he was for a relatively short time should never, ever be underestimated due to the fact that he was diabolical for a lengthy time (before he should've been playing) and also highly injury-prone and moderate in performance for another lengthy time.

 

[aussie]

There's no way to say at the current time whether Patel is Test-standard or not. That he has been unable to carve-out a ODI role as a specialist spinner proves precisely nothing whatsoever.

Until such a time as Patel forces his way irrefutably into the Test team, we have no way of knowing whether he's Test-class or not. He's one hell of a lot more likely to be than Anthony McGrath was, and McGrath managed to get picked. There are many names besides. Patel deserves a Test chance far more than most in the country at the current time.

Firstly his role in the ODI side wasn't as specialist spinner at all. It was a big hitting batsman who could give handy overs of off-spin. Its just at times in IND last winter for eg, the selectors stupidly picked him as a main-spinner.

As i said before, you really have to wonder what kind of bowling attacks Patel has been facing to average 50 in FC cricket. If he ever gets near to test squad, it will just further prove ENGs batting depth is **** ATM.

I suppose that is a possibility, but I'd not bet on it. I doubt anyone will want to split-up Strauss and Cook.

It should be serious option looking ahead to the SA tour, since Bopora aint going to nail down the # 3 spot this summer.

Morgan's hardly foreign - he's Irish. And yes we might well be stuck with Bell for a while yet, or there's even the tiny outside chance that he might suddenly finally become Test-class like we've been waiting for him to do for the best part of 7 years.

Haa, if this was football you wont be saying that...

 

[Langeveldt]

I find it pretty appaling that Flintoff decided to retire "after the ashes".. Assuming he is going to be picked for the rest of the games is a near certainty, but it still displays a bit of arrogance on his behalf.. Not a fan

 

[GIMH]

 

[91Jmay]

I find it pretty appaling that Flintoff decided to retire "after the ashes".. Assuming he is going to be picked for the rest of the games is a near certainty, but it still displays a bit of arrogance on his behalf.. Not a fan

Total balls.

He's not assuming that, just informing the selectors that these are the last 3 games they CAN select him for.

 

[Athlai]

Cairns > Flintoff

 

[Jamee999]

Flintoff would probably have retired after the Ashes even if there was some rule saying if you don't play Tests you can't play ODIs, T20s or IPL either, his body can't handle long series anymore.