Andrew Flintoff Finds Fire As England Give Andrew Strauss Some Fresh Attacking Options
A fruitful day in the field for Jimmy Anderson, Andrew Flintoff and Monty Panesar was just about the ideal preparation for England
It was just about the ideal day for the England camp. Warwickshire were bundled out for 102 with James Anderson bending the ball impressively while taking five for 34. There were no Andrew Flintoff traumas; he was on time again and, more importantly, there was no adverse reaction from his body after nine vigorous overs. Monty Panesar, for the first time this season, picked up three cheap wickets though a triumvirate of victims by the names of Barker, Woakes and Rankin is not quite enough to proclaim to the world that "I'm back".
And during the early part of the day at least whenever they glanced up at their TV screens they could catch a glimpse of the Australian bowlers toiling away in the heat down the road at Worcester against sterner opposition. "We have kept an eye on it on the telly," said Anderson, "and in fact we have computers down in the dressing room with info from previous games [Australia] have played so we can have a look at their batsmen and bowlers as well as watching them on TV." But the Ashes may not be quite wrapped up just yet.
There was life in this pitch – something similar for the third Test and it may not last five days – and England exploited it professionally enough. But Warwickshire's batsmen showed little appetite for their task as stooges. Not one of them could make 20.
Anderson was in virtuoso mode – just as he was when he played his last Test at Chester-le-Street – swinging the ball both ways and finding uneven bounce. This was too much for an England hopeful such as Jonathan Trott as well as the 17-year-old Ateeq Javid, who hung around pluckily until spooning a catch to gully.
Anderson is not a man for too much pre-Test bravado but he acknowledged: "I feel in control of the ball for both deliveries." It sounded as if he was happy to have Flintoff back in the attack. "He brings something different," he said. "We were guessing in the field that he must have been pushing 90mph. It is fantastic to get him back and bowling aggressively."
The tag of "leader of the pack" does not sit so easily with Anderson especially when Flintoff is back, though it is becoming more common for him to be England's most potent bowler. "If you have someone like Fred in your team it is hard not to give him the ball when you need something to happen," said Anderson. "He has stepped up in the past. I have done it in the last couple of series and I think it would be nice for Straussy to choose between us if we are both on top of our games." That is bombast by Anderson standards.
Flintoff, who was selected by Andrew Strauss to open the bowling with Anderson in the morning, was brimful of energy and on target. A fierce delivery hit Tony Frost on the hand and the Warwickshire batsman was soon lbw loitering on the back foot. Jim Troughton was caught behind fending away a venomous lifting delivery.
Once when bowling without a mid-on Flintoff tore after the ball himself, overtaking Alastair Cook in the process, to restrict the batsmen to three runs. He has energy to burn. Flintoff the bowler can rediscover his rhythm within days of returning from injury. We still do not know how long it takes for that rhythm to return with the bat in his hand.
Panesar says that he has decided to forsake the pursuit of new and wonderful varieties that his critics have been craving and to go back to basics in the Ashes series – if required – and this is probably a wise decision. He is not ready to mesmerize with Bishen Bedi-style subtlety; he probably never will be. But if he could revert to being a reliable bowling machine again then Strauss may be satisfied.
England did not enforce the follow-on; nor did they bother opening with Cook. Instead a subdued Ravi Bopara joined Strauss. They put on 109 together before the England captain looked less than forlorn to give Chris Woakes a return catch. He needed one or two others to have a knock for this to constitute ideal practice. But Kevin Pietersen could not galvanize himself for this, wafting gently to second slip after bringing his match tally to seven. He cannot play without adrenalin.
Bopara eventually found his customary fluency, but by now the intensity of the cricket was light years away from that which England will experience at Cardiff next week. Those England players in the Edgbaston dressing room were watching Brett Lee reverse swinging the ball at 93mph; the batsmen in the middle were watching rather more gently swinging deliveries from the dutiful Naqaash Tahir at 73mph.
And during the early part of the day at least whenever they glanced up at their TV screens they could catch a glimpse of the Australian bowlers toiling away in the heat down the road at Worcester against sterner opposition. "We have kept an eye on it on the telly," said Anderson, "and in fact we have computers down in the dressing room with info from previous games [Australia] have played so we can have a look at their batsmen and bowlers as well as watching them on TV." But the Ashes may not be quite wrapped up just yet.
There was life in this pitch – something similar for the third Test and it may not last five days – and England exploited it professionally enough. But Warwickshire's batsmen showed little appetite for their task as stooges. Not one of them could make 20.
Anderson was in virtuoso mode – just as he was when he played his last Test at Chester-le-Street – swinging the ball both ways and finding uneven bounce. This was too much for an England hopeful such as Jonathan Trott as well as the 17-year-old Ateeq Javid, who hung around pluckily until spooning a catch to gully.
Anderson is not a man for too much pre-Test bravado but he acknowledged: "I feel in control of the ball for both deliveries." It sounded as if he was happy to have Flintoff back in the attack. "He brings something different," he said. "We were guessing in the field that he must have been pushing 90mph. It is fantastic to get him back and bowling aggressively."
The tag of "leader of the pack" does not sit so easily with Anderson especially when Flintoff is back, though it is becoming more common for him to be England's most potent bowler. "If you have someone like Fred in your team it is hard not to give him the ball when you need something to happen," said Anderson. "He has stepped up in the past. I have done it in the last couple of series and I think it would be nice for Straussy to choose between us if we are both on top of our games." That is bombast by Anderson standards.
Flintoff, who was selected by Andrew Strauss to open the bowling with Anderson in the morning, was brimful of energy and on target. A fierce delivery hit Tony Frost on the hand and the Warwickshire batsman was soon lbw loitering on the back foot. Jim Troughton was caught behind fending away a venomous lifting delivery.
Once when bowling without a mid-on Flintoff tore after the ball himself, overtaking Alastair Cook in the process, to restrict the batsmen to three runs. He has energy to burn. Flintoff the bowler can rediscover his rhythm within days of returning from injury. We still do not know how long it takes for that rhythm to return with the bat in his hand.
Panesar says that he has decided to forsake the pursuit of new and wonderful varieties that his critics have been craving and to go back to basics in the Ashes series – if required – and this is probably a wise decision. He is not ready to mesmerize with Bishen Bedi-style subtlety; he probably never will be. But if he could revert to being a reliable bowling machine again then Strauss may be satisfied.
England did not enforce the follow-on; nor did they bother opening with Cook. Instead a subdued Ravi Bopara joined Strauss. They put on 109 together before the England captain looked less than forlorn to give Chris Woakes a return catch. He needed one or two others to have a knock for this to constitute ideal practice. But Kevin Pietersen could not galvanize himself for this, wafting gently to second slip after bringing his match tally to seven. He cannot play without adrenalin.
Bopara eventually found his customary fluency, but by now the intensity of the cricket was light years away from that which England will experience at Cardiff next week. Those England players in the Edgbaston dressing room were watching Brett Lee reverse swinging the ball at 93mph; the batsmen in the middle were watching rather more gently swinging deliveries from the dutiful Naqaash Tahir at 73mph.
Use the feedback form below to submit your comments.
Use the form below to email this article to your friends.
- Cricket: England Allrounder Andrew Flintoff to Undergo Ankle Operation
- Lancashire's Andrew Flintoff Blasts Warning in Australia's Direction
- Andrew Flintoff Foiled in Attempt to Find Form With the Bat
- Dimitri Mascarenhas Trumps Hostile Spell By Andrew Flintoff With Century
- Andrew Flintoff Fizzes With Ball After Flopping With Bat
- Flintoff Suffers More Batting Woe As He Eyes Ashes Comeback
- Andrew Flintoff Back in Groove for Bowling But Not Batting
- Andrew Flintoff Marks His Return From Injury With Two Wickets for Lancashire
- Andrew Flintoff Gives England a Boost By Returning to County Action
- Andrew Flintoff Says Ashes Recovery Plan is on Track
- Injured Andrew Flintoff to Miss England's World Twenty20 Campaign
- Andrew Flintoff Touch and Go for World Twenty20
- IPL's Big Hits Are Bargains As Millions Are Wasted on Flintoff and Pietersen
- All-rounder Tim Bresnan Wary of Filling Andrew Flintoff's England Role
- Ravi Bopara Eyes England Recall in Andrew Flintoff's Absence
- Knives Set to Fly From All Sides As Flintoff is Injured Yet Again
- Andrew Flintoff Out for Six Weeks in Blow for England and Chennai
- Andrew Flintoff Proves Too Expensive in the Ipl and Risks the Axe
- Chennai's Andrew Flintoff Proves His Worth Against Kevin Pietersen in Ipl Clash
- Andrew Flintoff Has Much to Prove After Expensive Ipl Debut