Universal Sport

Ok, so my question to all you esteemed cricket fans is this: Is Andrew Flintoff really a cricket legend, or has he merely been a fairly big fish in a very tiny pond?

I know he has been around a while and has on occasions done extraordinary things on a cricket field (I'm in no way doubting his talent - with the ball that is), but I am inclined to feel that he has received this status simply because he shines in a team that has hardly taken the world by storm over the last 5-10 years... Although they too have been capable at producing the occasional cricketing magic.

I've always believed that barring one truly massive season in 2004/5, he has been over-rated as a batter... He has a sub-standard technique, although I welcome your arguement on that - a topic up for complete debate.

I always think its important that I back my statements up with some statistics:

His career with the bat spans a total of 256 innings for England

Tests: 127 Innings @ 31.7
ODI's: 122 Innings @ 32 (oh, and a strike rate of only 88.8 for a "big hitter"?)
T-20: 7 Innings @ 12.6

No great shakes there? You are more than wlling to tell me that I'm talking shit though :-)

His career with the ball consisted of many deliveries (I'm not going to count) - you can! Here: Click here

Test average: 32.17 @ almost 3 an over - 225 wickets
ODI's: 24.38 @ 4.39 per over - 169 wickets
T-20: 32.2 @ 6.44 to the over - 5 wickets

Ok, so they call him one of the best all rounders of all time... Let run a quick comparison - mmmm - Shaun Pollock (he was also a "bowling" all-rounder)

Shaun Pollock

Bat:

Tests: 156 Innings @ 32.31
ODI's: 205 Innings @ 26.45
T-20: 12 Innings @ 12.28

Ball:

Test average: 23.11 @ almost 2.39 an over - 421 wickets
ODI's: 24.5 @ 3.67 per over - 393 wickets
T-20: 20.6 @ 7.62 to the over - 15 wickets

Who would you rather have in your side?

Personally, I can't stand Flintoff - I think he's even more arrogant than KP. I do however respect what he has done for his country - Imagine he wasn't there?

Freddie, you can now drink in peace... :-)