Is Andrew Flintoff disinterested in batting?

[ramkumar_gr]

the way he looks at the crease, during the Commonwealth and this WC, he seems very disinterested in his batting. It gives an impression ' come on bowlers!! please get me '.
What is wrong with him? Is he not happy with the stripping of captaincy?

 

[Perm]

I don't think that he's disinterested in his batting, as he has stated quite clearly in the media he is just struggling for runs at the moment and can't really put together a decent innings.

 

[pup11]

Freddie has never been too good a batsman, there was a small period in his career when he was pretty consistent with the bat in both tests and odi's.



But now most of the oppositions seem to have sorted him out (with the bat), but still i think Freddie would be much better of opening the innings rather than batting at no.6 or 7.

 

[Perm]

But now most of the oppositions seem to have sorted him out (with the bat), but still i think Freddie would be much better of opening the innings rather than batting at no.6 or 7.

Why do ou think that? He has never been that good against any lateral movement and although there has been limited swing so far in this tournament, sticking him up the order is asking for trouble.

 

[Goughy]

Why do ou think that? He has never been that good against any lateral movement and although there has been limited swing so far in this tournament, sticking him up the order is asking for trouble.

My reasons why putting Flintoff to open in the rest of this WC

http://www.cricketweb.net/forum/showpost.php?p=1150566&postcount=617

 

[Perm]

My reasons why putting Flintoff to open in the rest of this WC

http://www.cricketweb.net/forum/showpost.php?p=1150566&postcount=617

You do have a fair point about the possible reward being great, but is it that unrealistic to expect Flintoff to work himself back into some form in the middle order? It's not like he has been coming in with 4-5 overs to go and just sloggging, he has had plenty of time to build an innings and get himself in but has seldom made it count.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Ridiculous assertion that Flintoff is disinterested in batting, when a couple of days ago he told a Sky interviewer that he's always considered himself more of a batsman than a bowler.

 

[Matt79]

That's true Liam, but doesn't mean that at the moment he might be disinterested in his batting. He certainly seems to be struggling for form with the bat in a way that isn't true of his bowling, so it could be the case that he's finding batting frustrating and difficult at the moment and thus his attitude with batting is suffering. That wouldn't mean he didn't consider himself a batting allrounder.

Not saying that's the case with him, just pointing out that one thing doesn't preclude the other.

 

[Nishant]

I think when you are an allrounder like flintoff...a bad run off form in one form of the game might disinterest u in that form...i guess that might happen to flintoff...especially when the team depends heavily upon his bowling. But i would think that his 'negaitive' approach to the crease would be because of pressure and nothing to do with the fact that he doesnt like batting anymore.

 

[pasag]

Just needs a break imo. CT then the Ashes then the CB series and now the World Cup since October. Abit hectic for mine.

 

[Matt79]

Plus the poor lad has been burning the candle at both ends...

 

[open365]

Think we need to cut him some slack here, it's bad form and nothing more, making accusations that he's not interested or trying hard enough is overly presumptuous.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

That's true Liam, but doesn't mean that at the moment he might be disinterested in his batting. He certainly seems to be struggling for form with the bat in a way that isn't true of his bowling, so it could be the case that he's finding batting frustrating and difficult at the moment and thus his attitude with batting is suffering. That wouldn't mean he didn't consider himself a batting allrounder.

Not saying that's the case with him, just pointing out that one thing doesn't preclude the other.

My point was that it's pretty obvious the way he talks about it that batting is very important with him and that he's desperate for runs. He can't be disinterested in batting and consider himself a batsman first and a bowler second.

 

[pup11]

Fred was never seen as a serious bowler before the Indian tour England had under Nasser Hussain's captaincy.


Hussain made Fred bowl a lot of overs in that series and Fred's true potential as bowlers was discovered, before that Fred was considered more of a batting-all-rounder.


So i am not suprised to hear Fred say that he considers himself more of a batsman.

 

[nightprowler10]

I think a lot of people might just look at his facial expressions and decide "he doesn't look interested". Its stupid really.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

I think a lot of people might just look at his facial expressions and decide "he doesn't look interested". Its stupid really.

I don't think Kallis looks very interested. It looks like a chore for him half the time. Brilliant batsman though. And great heart for his team and country.

 

[prakesh]

It's not that Flintoff is disinterested, that's flattering him...it's just that he was never that great to begin with & was overhyped.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

It's not that Flintoff is disinterested, that's flattering him...it's just that he was never that great to begin with & was overhyped.

Flintoff as a number 6 batsman who can delivery 30+ runs per innings at pace is a huge asset to an ODI side.

 

[Matt79]

Its pretty rare for an allrounder who is remotely a decent batsman to say that they wouldn't consider themselves a batting allrounder. By that I mean that beyond genuine bowling allrounders like a Hadlee or Benaud, most allrounders say that they consider themselves batsmen first and bowlers second - even if their bowling is clearly superior to their batting, as is the case with Flintoff. Doesn't make it true however...

My guess is this is because they will usually be aware that their place in the team depends on their batting more than their bowling. Usually an allrounder will be at 6, taking a batsmen's spot, rather than one of the four specialist bowlers spot. Batting is something that you can generally sustain for longer than quick bowling in particular, so its probably a reflection of how most allrounders WISH they were that they say they are batsmen first. Plus, to channel Tiger O'Reilly here, most people consider batting a pleasure and bowling a chore, and the game is set up to pamper the aristocrats of the sport, the specialist batsmen, with bowlers reduced to their functionaries...

 

[Prince EWS]

Flintoff as a number 6 batsman who can delivery 30+ runs per innings at pace is a huge asset to an ODI side.

Flintoff as a floating batsman otherwise listed to come in at 7 would be a bigger asset though, really.