Andrew Flintoff Jumps The Shark, But Does Correctly Call Michael Atherton A Prick

[Burgey]

Mike Selvey came up with one of the great burns about him.

"John Howard describes himself as a cricket tragic. He's half right."

John Howard bowling - YouTube

 

[Viscount Tom]

Bowls straighter than Johnson.

 

[Jono]

Not a fan of Freddy post-retirement.

 

[_Ed_]

Flintoff stars in series of commercials for Morrisons

Haha, yes. Saw those when I was in the UK. Dreadful.

 

[Spikey]

Not a fan of Freddy post-retirement.

talks to piers morgan too much, for one

 

[Prince EWS]

Flintoff is a prick. He’s a ****ing prick. He sits there making judgments about analysts that are much better than he ever was, believe me, he’s a prick.

 

[Son Of Coco]

Harsha Bhogle
Jim Maxwell
Tony Cozier
Glenn Mitchell

et al.

Would explain some of the **** Jim used to come out with...I understand from comments on here that he's improved. I haven't listened to him for a long time.

 

[Jacknife]

One thing he is right about is that Atherton acted like a real prick when Cook became one day Captain. It really surprised me at the time how OTT Atherton went in his condemnation of Cooks promotion and he seemed to go out of his way to put Cook down I thought, he was like a dog with a bone about it. Others journos who may have had a similar opinion about Cook, were at least decent enough to give him a chance to see if he could prove himself.

 

[GIMH]

Freddie is god and that's a fact

 

[Stumpcam]

Freddie is god and that's a fact

Freddie differs from god in one important way - Freddie is real.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Such a non story. Tomorrow there will be one about Chappell and Botham bad mouthing each other.

 

[Furball]

One thing he is right about is that Atherton acted like a real prick when Cook became one day Captain. It really surprised me at the time how OTT Atherton went in his condemnation of Cooks promotion and he seemed to go out of his way to put Cook down I thought, he was like a dog with a bone about it. Others journos who may have had a similar opinion about Cook, were at least decent enough to give him a chance to see if he could prove himself.

Didn't see much wrong with his condemnation of Cook's promotion. Giving the ODI captaincy to a player deemed not good enough for the World Cup squad 2 months previously was strange.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

One thing he is right about is that Atherton acted like a real prick when Cook became one day Captain. It really surprised me at the time how OTT Atherton went in his condemnation of Cooks promotion and he seemed to go out of his way to put Cook down I thought, he was like a dog with a bone about it. Others journos who may have had a similar opinion about Cook, were at least decent enough to give him a chance to see if he could prove himself.

Possibly he was bitter about the way he was treated as a one day player, similar kind of player who was bombed despite a good record because of the infatuation with a big hitter at the top of the order after Mark Greatbach did well for a week or so. The Sri Lankans moved it forward with Jayasuriya and Kalu but NZ started it in the 92 World Cup.

 

[hazsa19]

Not a fan of Freddy post-retirement.

Was pissing me off by 2009 tbh

 

[Jacknife]

Didn't see much wrong with his condemnation of Cook's promotion. Giving the ODI captaincy to a player deemed not good enough for the World Cup squad 2 months previously was strange.

Not really his condemnation, plenty of others said similar, it was his ott reaction to it and then his constant whinging about it that became annoying. It was a case of yes we get you're point now let it lie and lets see what the lad can do, suppose Cook had the last laugh anyway.

It wasn't that hard to see why they didn't bring him for the WC when Strauss was there, simply because they would both had to open and back then they were looking for more of a hitter, in hindsight they'd have probably done pretty well together.

 

[grecian]

Not really his condemnation, plenty of others said similar, it was his ott reaction to it and then his constant whinging about it that became annoying. It was a case of yes we get you're point now let it lie and lets see what the lad can do, suppose Cook had the last laugh anyway.

It wasn't that hard to see why they didn't bring him for the WC when Strauss was there, simply because they would both had to open and back then they were looking for more of a hitter, in hindsight they'd have probably done pretty well together.

This, I remember him waffling on about Cook even after he'd done well before, in the Sky studios, saying he should be dropped for a reduced match, a match Cook duly won.

Athers was very poor on this subject, dogmatically so. I was quite upset about his ridiculous attitude because I like Atherton, as a pundit, and he was acting like Beefy.

 

[SteveNZ]

Harsha Bhogle
Jim Maxwell
Tony Cozier
Glenn Mitchell

et al.

I don't know you sir but I am going to presume you are sarcastic, with the mention of Bhogle in there.

 

[benchmark00]

I don't know you sir but I am going to presume you are sarcastic, with the mention of Bhogle in there.

What? You said a non player will never make it into the commentary box. All those mentioned are non players. And are commentators. Thus operating in the commentary box.

Meaning they are non players in the commentary box.

 

[Cabinet96]

Not really his condemnation, plenty of others said similar, it was his ott reaction to it and then his constant whinging about it that became annoying. It was a case of yes we get you're point now let it lie and lets see what the lad can do, suppose Cook had the last laugh anyway.

It wasn't that hard to see why they didn't bring him for the WC when Strauss was there, simply because they would both had to open and back then they were looking for more of a hitter, in hindsight they'd have probably done pretty well together.

I remember Athertton doing the presentation for the final one day game against Sri Lanka last summer after Cook had scored around 250 runs at a run a ball, won the series and got man of the series.

It's funny because I always thought Strauss was an underrated ODI player. Was probably our second best batsmen after Morgan. Cricinfo Numbers Game this week says Struass' strike rate was 93.28 since 2010. Yet he never really won everyone over (I remember lots of talk of people like Lumb coming in for him in the ODI side before the World Cup). I guess it just goes to show how far set impressions of players, as a result of their early career exploits, can effect how people view them today.

This, I remember him waffling on about Cook even after he'd done well before, in the Sky studios, saying he should be dropped for a reduced match, a match Cook duly won.

Was that the game against India last summer when Cook got 80 off 50 odd balls?

 

[SteveNZ]

Completely disagree with this, the reason why these people are phased out is because TV and Media outlets want bull****ters and controversialists, it's happening in all sport. Oddly enough Atherton and Hussein tend to steer away.

We have Darren Gough talking about sport on our biggest sports station over here. He talk's mainly about football, a sport where you could randomly pick a guy off the street and the odds he'll know more about it. He talks about it in a staggeringly inarticulate, boorish ignorant way, Ronnie Irani does the same. Ratings are brilliant.

Don't blame players, blame the people who want to watch, read and listen to this ****.

Blame us also for posting about this sordid piece of sensationalism, which I'm sure the makers of Freddie's progs on the Sky Networks, and Athers employers also News International will actually be delighted about.

Non-cricketers can be bull****ters and controversialists. Listen to talkback radio. The reason cricketers make it is partly because it's an old boys' club, and a non-player would never fit in, and also because the public doesn't take the opinion of someone who didn't play the game. Which is crap. I would judge on the words they are saying, not the mouth it's coming from.

But yeah, you're right, people will listen to a sportsman talk about anything when they know little about it. The art of articulate commentary and opinion is long gone.

And okay, wires crossed on Bhogle...but he's a BCCI lackey. I meant no one will crack it in these days - Maxwell, Cozier etc are well ensconsed.