English cricket’s enduring focus on 2005 helps to sustain interest in the game in a country that is also hosting the most compelling and widely followed sporting drama in the world, the Premier League. This is hot competition. And 2005 was an exceptional series, the most thrilling ever played in many opinions. Whatever its outcome, the 2009 edition cannot compare. Four years ago, the combatants were the top two sides. Australia fielded two of the greatest and most charismatic bowlers the game has known. England had an astute captain, a gruff coach, a pair of mighty warriors, and an abundance of spirit. Every day, every hour was enthralling.
Now, the campaign has also defied prediction, but there has been one significant difference. Throughout the epic, the play was consistently high-level. In contrast, a lot of mediocre cricket has been produced this time around. Arguably, the sides belong in the middle of the rankings. Still, England expects, and Flintoff awaits.
Several factors contribute to England’s obsession with Flintoff. Partly, it is a nation’s need for heroes. Partly, it is the way he plays cricket, with generosity and adventure. Partly, it is the way he takes on the Australians. After all, he was Man of the Series in that famous victory. Partly, it is the way he lifts a crowd, responds to its roars, goes into battle on its behalf, and captures the imagination. He has an ability to connect with spectators. Hope has been his calling card. And he has the common touch as well – he likes ale and darts, and so forth. People sense that he belongs to them, and so they forgive his foibles.
As his Test career seeks its last glory, the obsession becomes almost a craze. Before the Headingley Test, Andrew Strauss, a worthy man, captain, and cricketer, spent most of his press conference fending off questions about Flintoff, who had scored a fifty but not taken a wicket in the previous match. It must have been exasperating. Flintoff was deemed unfit to play, and afterwards that became a story, when it emerged that his pleas had been ignored.
Now the question arises as to his standing in the game. Provided he is fit, he has five more days of Test cricket to play. If he is to be hailed as a great cricketer, it will be in a special category. In every other case in the last 100 years, this recognition has been reserved for those with exceptional records: batting averages over 50 (perhaps 55 these days), hundreds of wickets taken with due economy, and so forth. Flintoff does not quite meet these standards. His record tells of high competence, stout-hearted service, numerous injuries, and some irresistible performances at critical moments.
Admittedly, allrounders are not required to average as much with the bat or as little with the ball as specialists. After all, it is impossible for them to focus on one skill to the same degree. Moreover, it is no small thing to be among the best six in one discipline, batting or bowling, let alone both. Among them, Garfield Sobers stands head and shoulders above the rest, with Imran Khan his closest rival, not least because he was also a fine captain. This is high company, and Flintoff is not diminished because he cannot quite keep it. Perhaps it is best to regard him not so much as one of the greatest allrounders but as an inspirational figure able to answer his country’s call once in a while.
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