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Flintoff v Botham the better allrounder - poll

Flintoff V Botham - who is the better allrounder


  • Total voters
    36
  • Poll closed .

JASON

Cricketer Of The Year
I am interested to find people's opinions on who is the better allrounder - Andrew Flintoff or Ian Botham .

Ian Botham in his peak single handedly won Test Matches for England both with bat and ball. But Freddie is not far away as he showed in the last Ashes series . I guess only time will tell, if Freddie surpasses Ian Botham . Botham in the last few years of his career was pretty poor and struggling and was picked because England selectors had no others to go to. Also Botham as a Captain struggled badly and had to be relieved of his Captaincy , which does not seem to be an issue for Freddie who lead England remarkably in India to secure a 1-1 draw and despite his detractors over the Lords Test is doing a pretty good job as a Captain .

There is no doubt Freddie's emergence as a brilliant all rounder had a lot to do with England reclaiming the Ashes after a very long Gap.

So what does everyone else think ?
 
Last edited:

oz_fan

International Regular
At the moment Botham probably just has the edge over Flintoff because of his longevity and performance over a greater period of time. IMO at their best it would be too hard to split the two.
 

Francis

State Vice-Captain
Botham by a freaking mile...

Botham at his peak is better than Freddie at his peak...

Freddie playing like he can for the rest of his career isn't as good as Beffy's career...

Actually I don't care to continue. Botham is easily the greater cricketer. Freddie is awesome right now, but he'd have to get better and play that way for a long time for him to be the next Beefy.

I don't know if people realise how awesome Beefy was. He was more than a one series wonder. He carried England.
 

Anil

Hall of Fame Member
Mat Runs HS BatAv 100 50 W BB BowlAv 5w Ct

102 5200 208 33.54 14 22 383 8/34 28.40 27 120
60 3113 167 33.83 5 22 178 5/58 31.79 2 40

flintoff has a long way to go to be considered in the same league....
 

Francis

State Vice-Captain
What's sad is that people say Beefy's figures don't show his impact at his best because he sort of had a poor end to his career that severely stuffed up his stats. Beefy was as highly regarded as any all-rounder in his era - the era of the all-rounders. Imran Khan was the best of course.
 

Goughy

Hall of Fame Member
hmm, which is better, ice-cream or being kicked in the balls?

The Beefy-Freddie thing is not even a discussion.
 

Anil

Hall of Fame Member
Francis said:
What's sad is that people say Beefy's figures don't show his impact at his best because he sort of had a poor end to his career that severely stuffed up his stats. Beefy was as highly regarded as any all-rounder in his era - the era of the all-rounders. Imran Khan was the best of course.
i know, even so those stats are mighty impressive, 5000+ runs, nearly 400 wickets at 28 120 catches!
 

LongK

Cricket Spectator
Botham performed for a way lengthyer period. Ask this question when Freddy retires.
 

JBH001

International Regular
Despite the fact that the last 5 years of Bothams career never equalled - by the distance of a horizon - the achievements of the first 5 years, Flintoff is a long, long way from even coming close to matching Botham.

Nor do I think he ever will - for the simple fact that though his batting may be upto par with Botham's, his bowling isnt and neither is his fielding. I am not offerring this as troll bait but as much as I admire Flintoff I do believe his is overrated - mainly by Poms and Ozzies.

(In only one respect is Freddie perhaps better. His performances against the best team of his time is better than Bothams against the best team of his time).
 

PY

International Coach
I don't care who's better.

Freddie is here now and doing the goods, Beefy did it back in the 80s.

Even if Freddie doesn't 'match' Beefy, the amount he's done for English cricket in last 2 years is unbelievable....and that's all that matters to me. :)
 

Barney Rubble

International Coach
PY said:
I don't care who's better.

Freddie is here now and doing the goods, Beefy did it back in the 80s.

Even if Freddie doesn't 'match' Beefy, the amount he's done for English cricket in last 2 years is unbelievable....and that's all that matters to me. :)
Hear hear. Voted Freddie for the same reason I voted Warne > Bradman a while back - his impact on my cricketing world has been immeasurable. :)
 

GotSpin

Hall of Fame Member
Goughy said:
hmm, which is better, ice-cream or being kicked in the balls?

The Beefy-Freddie thing is not even a discussion.
What if your alergic to icecream, and if you eat it you would die?

Think about it
 

GotSpin

Hall of Fame Member
Barney Rubble said:
Hear hear. Voted Freddie for the same reason I voted Warne > Bradman a while back - his impact on my cricketing world has been immeasurable. :)
Didnt Bradman cause Grade and state games to be sold out?

Though it is your cricketing world
 

marc71178

Eyes not spreadsheets
Francis said:
What's sad is that people say Beefy's figures don't show his impact at his best because he sort of had a poor end to his career that severely stuffed up his stats.
By the same token, Flintoff's figures don't show his impact at his best.

Last 35 Tests - 2142 runs @ 41.19 & 137 wickets @ 26.36
 

Francis

State Vice-Captain
I agree and feel history wont quite show that Freddie performed at the crucial moments in the Ashes.

However, Beffy's figures from his best period kill Freddie's figures from the last few years.
 

marc71178

Eyes not spreadsheets
Francis said:
However, Beffy's figures from his best period kill Freddie's figures from the last few years.
His bowling will, but I don't think his batting comes close to that sustained level - 35 matches (or even 40-odd) averaging over 40.
 

a massive zebra

International Captain
marc71178 said:
His bowling will, but I don't think his batting comes close to that sustained level - 35 matches (or even 40-odd) averaging over 40.
And then take a look at the standard of bowling they have had to face at their peaks.
 

marc71178

Eyes not spreadsheets
a massive zebra said:
And then take a look at the standard of bowling they have had to face at their peaks.
How many great attacks did Tinarse actually score centuries against then?
 

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