This is what India needs ... an all-rounder!
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Immortal Quote?
I'm Andrew Flintoff, and this is the way I play.
posted by Harsha V. Madhyastha @ 12:25 PM
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Saturday, August 06, 2005
Immortal Quote?
24 Comments:
Ignoring the pic on the left, I'd say this is what India needs, a bowler :)
BTW, Harmison has just been bowling pace (with some bounce), no off-cutters, no leg-cutters. In the last over, he did bowl some fast late outswingers, which set up perfectly for the slow ball. So, right now I can't put him in the category of Ambrose and Garner. He has a lot of work to do.
I remember Sadagopan Ramesh, after a successful home series, had said something similar "I am Ramesh and I don't like using my feet" !!
Warne said in his interview that all those outswingers and inswingers (from Flintoff and Jones) were actually reverse swinging deliveries That's amazing. Reverse swing after just 10 overs!! The pitch must be drier and rougher than Grand Canyon and the Aussies must be thinking they were on an adventure trip :)
Wow! Let's hope Flintoff doesn't end up in the same state as Ramesh a couple of years down the line :D
Regarding Harmison's bowling, I think his main advantage is being able to get awkward bounce of a good length. However, as you noted, to capitalize on that, he'll need to mix these up with balls that swing or seam to have regular success. Otherwise, all that he'll end up doing is bowling containing spells and giving the batsmen a few knocks on their body. No wickets!!
And I don't think Warne is the best batsman around to be asking questions on how the ball was swinging. The concerned reporter first made a mistake in posing the question to Warne and then, actually including his reply!!
"The concerned reporter first made a mistake in posing the question to Warne and then, actually including his reply!!"
--- I agree. Although the reverse swing has been confirmed by Flintoff. BTW, is Peter English Australian or English? His article is atrocious. He seems to have written it after a bottle or two of Fosters, Australian for tears :)
LOL! I too read Peter English's article just now and felt exactly the same. But, usually he doesn't write this bad. I am guessing he is Australian, but usually sorrow makes you think with a clear mind. From what he has written, it does not look like he was thinking much!
BTW, I think the key moment in either innings was the wicket of Langer. He was the only batsman in the whole Test who was batting sensibly and looked in great touch. I didn't see his dismissal in the first innings but looks like it was a great delivery from Simon Jones. And, in the second, it was just Flintoff's luck on the day carrying ball off the inside edge onto the stumps.
Good point. Jones' wicket of Langer and Flintoff's of Ponting were probably the two best deliveries bowled by Englishmen in this test. Both reverse swinging deliveries. And we shouldn't forget Flintoff's reverse swinging yorkers that got rid of the tail.
Aussies never managed to get reverse swing. Don't know how big a factor that'll be in the 3rd test.
Yes, the stark picture that remains in my mind is the inability of Brett Lee, with all his pace, to bowl a good yorker to either trap Simon Jones LBW or bowl him out. On the other hand, Flintoff kept bowling them consistently with amazing accuracy. If Australia had 50 runs lesser to get, we might not yet be discussing an English win.
BTW, the bigger factor for the next Test will be how serious Freddie's injury is. Also, I guess the Aussies will surely be tempted to bring in either Tait or McGill. Don't know what kind of a pitch Old Trafford has.
Also, England needs to do something about its middle order; they can't just hope atleast one of Pietersen or Flintoff will fire every time Vaughan and Bell fall cheaply.
Hmm...india definetly needs an allrounder...once they have found the batsmen and the bowlers and a wicketkeeper of course !! :p
P.S: btw, the latest pretender for the role of the allrounder is going to be given a chance tonight....*sigh!*
I did a "Harsha ki khoj" yesterday. Where were you? You missed it, dude. You missed it. Shame on you :)
:(( Crying over it for the past two hours now! :(( My whole day has been wasted! :((
test cricket at the other extreme... Hoo Haa!
Pathetic isnt it! they had their best team of the last 12 months!
Actually, I was hoping something like this would happen. I have been waiting eagerly for Bond's return for quite a while now. I was hoping he would immediately return to form and blow away the Zimbabwe team. But, doesn't look like he is at his peak yet (hopefully the injury hasn't ensured that he never reaches it again!) and others like Franklin and Martin were sufficient to finish off the job.
Let's hope that the ICC is fast asleep. It'd be a really scary situation if ICC decides to do something about Zim/BD. That'd cost India a lot of points in the ICC rankings table, and destroy all hopes of a series win outside the subcontinent :)
At the moment, I am so drunk in the Ashes revelry that I am past caring about Indian cricket. I would be more hurt if England loses the next Test than if India loses today's finals. I guess I'll leave my worries about the future of the Indian team for after we are done with the Ashes :)
Why Aus have the upper hand going into the 3rd test, even without McGrath?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3371412a1823,00.html
http://content.cricinfo.com/engvaus/content/story/215413.html
While the reverse swing argument sounds reasonable, I don't get how they can keep playing Bell. Look for someone who can play spin well.
On the other hand, the Aussies are taking things seriously for the 3rd test. My take:Warne and MacGill are going to suffocate the Eng middle order of Bell, KP and Mr. Infredible
Isn't there any worthwhile spinner in the whole of England other than Giles?!! How can the situation be so bad?
Good thing is that Australia has 4 left-handers, which gives Giles a chance to use the rough. Otherwise he is basically a container, who keeps resorting to -ve tactics and frustrates the hell out of the batsmen.
BTW, do you know of any good articles over the last 2 days? I looked at Prem's blog and it had some mildly interesting ones.
I have just been reading the articles that show up on the BBC's and the Guardian's coverage of the Ashes. Haven't really had time to pore through articles listed by Google News. On the whole though, the English media does a much better job than their dry-and-dreary Aussie counterparts! :)
An aussie cricket fan in the latest bollywood movie would have shouted...Yeh anyaay hai! aisa kaise ho sakta hai! Mummy!!
And ICC is going to review this. Why....i have no idea.
Yeah, what the hell is ICC going to get out of this by reviewing the decision? Surely they can't change the outcome of the match!
Looks more like a random comment made on the spur on the moment by some ICC official, under pressure from Aussie reporters.
Was just thinking about this all rounder thingy. World's best all rounders (past and present) like
Botham, Kapil, Imran, Sobers, Tony Greig, Kallis, Pollock, Cairns, Flintoff, etc are all well-built and athletic.
I am of the opinion that Indians have a distinct natural disadvantage when it comes to athletism and power. Is that the reason why India hasn't been able to produce one?
Of the current lot, probably Yuvraj is closest to the body-types i am talking about and if he can try some pace bowling that might just work out.
Yuvraj?! He looks pretty frail to me to be able to bowl fast. To me, Zaheer looks like the most well-built among the current lot of Indian players.
Coming to think of it, why aren't there are great all-rounders who are spinners? I would imagine bowling good spin can be acquired over time but bowling fast has to be pretty much intrinsic.
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