Andrew Flintoff
If ever there someone personified the “stats don’t tell the whole story” argument, that someone would have to be Andrew Flintoff. In 20 years time when a new generation of CWebbers come along and try to work out what the fuss is over someone averaging 32 with the ball and 31 with the bat. Those of us who watched him play know that he was more, so much more than that.
His defining series will always be the 2005 Ashes series, and with good reason – he was mighty with both bat and ball – but his breakthrough series occurred 2 years earlier against South Africa where he played a number of superb innings at 7. He proved himself to be a hard hitting, clean striker of the ball and batted extremely well with the tail. His 142 at Lord’s was a cracking innings, bettered IMO by his 95 at The Oval. Flintoff came to the wicket with England still 4 in arrears, and 3 more wickets quickly fell to leave England 502/8, a lead of just 18 runs. Flintoff was the next man out having scored 85 of the 99 runs the 9[SUP]th[/SUP] wicket partnership had brought, giving England a crucial lead and allowing them to chase a series levelling victory.
His coming of age as a bowler occurred that winter, but where we will always remember him is the Ashes 2005. That marathon spell at the Oval on day 4. The fire and hostility every time he bowled. The way things just seemed to happen for him every time he had the ball in his hand. And of course, THAT over at Edgbaston.
I still get goosebumps watching that. Just listen to the crowd. Cricket, in fact all sport, is about theatre, drama and emotion. It’s the big moments that we remember. There’s no way in hell Flintoff would swap bowling that over for a bowling average of 27 over his career. We loved Freddie because he had us on the edge of our seats, with him every step of his run up, willing him on because he was our hero. You don’t get the crowd with you the way Freddie did without being a great player. Statistics can only tell you so much about the story that unfolds during a game. Some people can point to the fact that yes, Flintoff perhaps didn’t get the wickets that he really should have in Test cricket. For all his talent as a bowler he didn’t run through sides the way he should have, as his three 5 wicket hauls will attest to. Stats be damned though. I’ve never seen a player lift a crowd the way Flintoff did that summer or would continue to do every time he bowled until his body got the better of him. You don’t do what he did on the final morning of the 2009 Lord’s Ashes Test without being great.
Incidentally, in this team I’ve accidentally created the perfect role for Flintoff. His batting IMO was always better suited to 7 than it was to 6. It should give him a license and a freedom to play his natural attacking game and go after the bowlers. And as a bowler, McGrath, Anderson, Warne and AN Other can do the grunt work. Flintoff can bowl short, sharp, hostile spells that get the crowd on their feet and the opposition batsmen jumping around their crease, a role that should be perfect for him. Perhaps having that sort of role would have given Flintoff the numbers to match his greatness.
