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Andrew Flintoff opening?
- Thread starter Mard
- Start date
Precambrian
Banned
Possible with every opener. Worth a punt really.
Richard
Cricket Web Staff Member
Of course it's possible with every opener - the point I was making is that it's nonsensical to say "he can give fast starts", because you can only give any sort of start if you don't get out.
For me, Flintoff offers enough at five (or maybe six) that it isn't worth the punt. There's quite a bit to lose. No-one else has proven their capability of playing the role he's played in the mid-late innings for the last 6-and-a-bit years.
What's more, another thing to consider is that Flintoff is a death-bowler. This means that if you're batting second, he's straight from the highly intensive stuff of death-bowling to the equally highly intensive stuff of opening the batting. With just a half-hour break (10 minutes of which are as good as eaten-up by walking off and on to the field - then there's the padding-up, throwdowns etc. that openers have to do quicker than anyone else) I don't know how easy it'd be to recover.
For me, Flintoff offers enough at five (or maybe six) that it isn't worth the punt. There's quite a bit to lose. No-one else has proven their capability of playing the role he's played in the mid-late innings for the last 6-and-a-bit years.
What's more, another thing to consider is that Flintoff is a death-bowler. This means that if you're batting second, he's straight from the highly intensive stuff of death-bowling to the equally highly intensive stuff of opening the batting. With just a half-hour break (10 minutes of which are as good as eaten-up by walking off and on to the field - then there's the padding-up, throwdowns etc. that openers have to do quicker than anyone else) I don't know how easy it'd be to recover.
tooextracool
International Coach
Scoring runs in England is not exacly correlated with scoring against the swinging ball. Perhaps his record for Lancashire might be a better indication while then again that might not be the case. IMO his 3 test hundreds in England were hardly in swing bowler friendly conditions, 2 were on absolute roads where India piled on huge totals.Ganguly might have had his share of problems against the swinging ball like every other subcontinental batsman, but to suggest that he, who made 3 successive tons in England, is a complete tool against swing bowling,able.
tooextracool
International Coach
Thats a fair point but one would think that if players like Gilchrist can do it after wicket-keeping for 50 overs it couldnt be too bad for a fast bowler. After all they only bowl 10 overs an inning, which means really only about 2 or max 3 at the death.