Left field

More Freelance Flintoffs might serve England well

Andrew Flintoff’s decision to forego a contract with England and set himself up as an elite cricket freelancer has provoked a fair amount of grumbling in the media, with words like “mercenary” and “snub” being bandied about all over the place.

But whether you consider Flintoff’s decision ungrateful or not, consider for a moment whether it might not work out to England’s advantage.

As others have said, there’s nothing really new in Flintoff’s decision to go it alone. Other cricketers have made themselves available as players for hire in different parts of the world over a season.

The difference here is that Flintoff has made it clear that he is still available to play for his country at one-day international and Twenty20 level … and looking at the country’s recent results, how they need him.

According to recent media reports, the thought of having such a talented and marketable cricketer as Flintoff in their ranks has already drawn interest from teams in Australia and South Africa.

Fitness permitting, he will be on the auction block for the Indian Premier League and as long as his knees hold up he could follow the sun, playing some games for England (he has his eye on returning for the tour of Bangladesh early next year) and more for cash-rich teams around the globe.

Is there anything wrong with what Flintoff is doing?

A captaincy masterclass from Strauss

It can be a dog’s life being a cricket captain: adored and cherished, chastised and deplored in equal measure. If Ponting was the crown prince of captains after the first test in Cardiff, he became the pauper at Lord’s and is now very much in the shadow of Strauss at the Oval.

The second day of the final and deciding Ashes test could not have gone much better for the England captain, with the home side bundling Australia out for 160 inside 53 overs and closing day two on 58 for 3, a second innings lead of 230 after England were bowled out for 332 earlier in the day.

Strauss showed his cool when Australia reached 73 without loss and cunning in choosing the right bowlers, at the right time, to turn the tide of the match.

With England’s first innings total looking under pressure just after the Lunch break, despite some good bowling, Strauss turned to the enigmatic Stuart Broad to break the opening partnership of Shane Watson and Michael Katich.

Within 6 balls the Notts youngster duly obliged and a very un-Australian collapse began. From 73 for no loss, the tourists lost 10 wickets for 87 runs.

Strauss stuck with Broad and two overs later the Australian captain was on his way back to the dressing room, closely followed by Mike Hussey for a duck to the same man.

Ill discipline costs England again

Heard the one about the English batsmen who just couldn’t resist nibbling at balls way outside off stump? It is an all too common occurrence and is the main reason why England fell short of a good first innings total in the deciding Ashes test.

Of course, flashing away outside the off-stump isn’t just a disease to afflict English batsmen, although the problem does appear to be more acute on these shores than any where else.

It’s an epidemic that has spread with the invention and subsequent proliferation of one-day cricket, which encourages the batsman’s need to dominate and unsettle the opposition’s bowlers.

The difference in test cricket is that the bowler is not required by the laws to bowl such a tight line around the stumps and therefore has more weapons in his armoury.

Five of the eight dismals to fall on day one were through players playing loosely outside the off stump. Of the five two can be offered impunity.

Captain Andrew Strauss was undone by a ball which inexplicably held its line instead of swinging in to the left-hander.

And Alastair Cook was delivered a ball that was so close to off stump that had he left it he may well have been listening to the lugubrious sound of the death rattle milliseconds later.

Will England prove too fragile for final Ashes battle?

In the end the England selectors kept their calm, remaining cut off from the hyperbole that followed Australia’s demolition of the home side at Headingley, and made just the one change for the Oval, with Jonathan Trott chosen to replace Ravi Bopara in England’s fragile middle order.

Personally, I would have been happier to see Kent’s Rob Key getting a recall for his experience and proven grace under pressure, but given Trott was in the squad for the fourth test, it would have smacked of vacillation from the selectors not to stick with him. As it was, Ricky Ponting described Trott’s promotion as an act of desperation.

So, the South African born hitter gets his chance at number five and he must now show he can handle the burning intensity of making his England debut in a deciding Ashes test.

Trott’s inclusion means Ian Bell, who must surely be in the last chance saloon, is nudged back up to number three in the batting order, with Collingwood taking the number four sport.

I hope he proves me wrong but Bell had the best part of two years trying to conquer the number three position, against far inferior opposition, and has done nothing since his recall to suggest he has overcome his demons.

Flintoff should be fit to strengthen the batting and the bowling, leaving Strauss to choose between Steve Harmison and Graham Onions for the final bowling spot.

No such worries for Ponting whose bowling unit finally gelled at Headingley, while the batting has been a definition of defiance throughout.

England start badly, career downhill

Andrew Strauss had a bad start to his day when he and his team mates were evacuated from their hotel at 5 o’clock in the morning because of a fire alarm. Unfortunately, that was just the start of a black Friday for the England captain.After days of assessing the fitness of Andrew Flintoff, Strauss and coach Andy Flower finally decided that the inspirational all-rounder could not be risked in a five-day match and it was announced that he was ruled out of the fourth Ashes test.

Strauss took part in a game of soccer on the Headingley outfield and watched in horror as wicketkeeper Matt Prior collapsed with a back spasm before retiring gingerly to the dressing-room for treatment.

Fortunately, Prior made a rapid recovery and Strauss’s day then appeared to take a turn for the better when he won the toss and chose to bat. He strode out confidently with his opening partner Alastair Cook looking to build a huge first-innings total and take charge of the match.

But having survived a huge appeal for lbw off Ben Hilfenhaus’s first delivery of the game, Strauss looked out of sorts and he lasted just 17 balls and three runs before edging Peter Siddle to Marcus North at third slip.

A rare failure in the series and Strauss returned to the dressing-room hoping to watch his team mates take responsibility but he watched in disbelief as the Australian seamers took advantage of favourable conditions to leave England in tatters at 72-6 at lunch. Suddenly it looked a very good toss to lose as Ricky Ponting would almost certainly have batted first had he won it.

Strauss watched the start of the afternoon session from the balcony outside the dressing-room and things did not improve as Graeme Swann, Steve Harmison, James Anderson and Graham Onions joined the procession. Around nine and a half hours after emerging bleary-eyed into the Leeds dawn, Strauss’s nightmare was complete.

PHOTO: England’s Andrew Strauss leaves the field after being caught for 3 during the first day of the fourth Ashes cricket test match against Australia at Headingley, August 7, 2009. REUTERS/Philip Brown

Battle-weary Australia need Lee fit and in form

Australia have far more limited options than England when they consider changes to their battle-weary side for the fourth Ashes test starting on Friday at Headingley, with their main hope of fresh impetus resting on the fitness of Brett Lee.

England had the luxury of bringing in fresh blood on Tuesday, calling up fast bowler Ryan Sidebottom and uncapped batsman Jonathan Trott for the first time this series, while again putting Steve Harmison on standby in a 14-man squad.

Australia captain Ricky Ponting expects to be able to call on Lee for the first time this series, after the quick bowler missed the first three tests with a rib injury.

Seamer Stuart Clark could be another option, possibly at the expense of Peter Siddle but otherwise the skipper has little to juggle with ahead of a match they cannot afford to lose, with England already 1-0 up with two to play.

“We will keep a close eye on Brett and I would expect him to be able to bowl,” Ponting said after the third test draw in Edgbaston. “We know what Stuart is capable of and we will have plenty to talk about.”

Australia are again likely to be without first-choice wicket-keeper Brad Haddin again after he pulled out of the Edgbaston test with a finger injury but Ponting remained bullish.

“If we play our best cricket we will take some beating,” he said.

Can England take a 2-0 Ashes lead?

A stunning day’s Test cricket, wasn’t it? If there was ever any doubt over the status of the longest form of the game then Sunday’s play will have washed away concerns.

You simply don’t get this sort of story told, with its twists and turns, at a Twenty20 match or a 50-over game for that matter. It had everything; wickets, runs, hostility, sledging and a dramatic finale that leaves a positive result to this rain interrupted Test match still possible.

Australia closed day four on 88 for 2 in their second innings, still 25 runs behind England’s first innings total of 376, and they will attempt to bat out the final day in order to save this match.

The draw is still favourite, but England have given themselves a whiff of an opportunity, by way of their aggressive batting and attacking bowling. Led by the bruise brothers Andrew Flintoff and Matt Prior, who smashed 89 off almost as many balls, England clawed their way back from the precipice of 168 for five to post a 113 run first innings lead over the Australians.

It was scenario that seemed most unlikely after the start of play was delayed for an hour. Then Australia’s bowlers got to work in a tight first session, creating pressure, which brought the wickets of Andrew Strauss and Paul Collingwood, to leave England 159 for 4 at lunch.

It wasn’t long after the restart that the fifth wicket fell and England looked in trouble.

Ian Bell, who had so much luck in surviving three huge lbw appeals that he should go out and buy himself a lottery ticket, eventually fell as the umpire found the fourth appeal too tempting to turn down, with Bell once more caught on his front pad striding across his stumps to a swinging delivery, and he went for 53.

Ashes analysis: insipid England fail to keep pressure on Australia

Whatever momentum England had built up over Australia by scraping a draw in Cardiff and then winning convincingly at Lord’s, slowly ebbed away following an insipid display late on a truncated first day’s play of the third Ashes Test in Edgbaston, as Australia rattled along at almost four and a half runs an over to close the day at 126-1.

Ricky Ponting, beset by problems, will have been delighted with his sides response in the face of adversity.

A couple of brave decisions from the Australian captain saw embattled fast bowler Mitchell Johnson keep his place in the side, while Shane Watson replaced the enigmatic young opener Phillip Hughes.

Hughes may be feeling a bit of a Twit. His management company used his Twitter feed to announce he had been dropped from the team, a full 3 hours before the start of scheduled play at 11am. The move seemed even more ridiculous once play was delayed because of rain until 5pm.

Ponting then lost one of his most reliable players just before the start of play, with wicketkeeper Brad Hadden breaking a finger in the warm up, meaning a debut for Graham Manou.

It appears a good toss to win on what looks a flat pitch that will deteriorate over the next four days and, unlike in 2005, Ponting followed the rules of Edgbaston and opted to bat first. His openers didn’t disappoint him.

Shane Watson, opening for Australia for the first time in his ninth test match, and Simon Katich cruised at one-day batting pace as they were fed a series of long hops outside off stump and rank deliveries down the leg side, which they tucked into with relish.

Ashes analysis: England shouldn’t fear a record run chase

England will go into day four of the second Ashes test in complete control having closed day three on 311 for 6, giving them a massive 521 lead over Australia, who will be asked to chase down a record total to avoid defeat.

Despite bowling out Australia an hour into the morning session, 11 runs short of avoiding the follow-on total of 225, England captain Andrew Strauss decided against asking the tourists to bat again after seeing Australia’s tail-enders play with purpose and in some comfort in clement overhead conditions on what is still a favourable batting surface.

Strauss’s decision appeared vindicated as he and opening partner Alistair Cook added 50 in just 11 overs before breaking for lunch.

But the afternoon session saw a refocused Australia begin to fight back as off-spinner Nathan Hauritz showed his class as a bowler and a man as wheeled away with a dislocated finger and further confounded his critics by dismissing first Cook and then Strauss with some beautifully flighted deliveries.

England suddenly looked vulnerable at 74 for 2 and it could have been worse had Australia captain Ricky Ponting not fluffed his lines twice.

Firstly he failed to run out Kevin Pietersen who was stranded halfway down the pitch by missing all three stumps when throwing from the slip cordon, then he shelled a dolly of a slip catch off a Ravi Bopara edge.

The eventual dismissal of both Bopara, who struggled again for his 27, and the clearly unfit Pietersen for 44, proved to be a blessing in disguise for England.

Ashes analysis: Australia crumble as England start to swing

I’m still unsure as to whether England’s first innings total of 425 is a good score on what is essentially still a flat Lord’s track, but with Australia 156 for 8 at the close of play on the second the home side can be proud of their efforts so far.

Australia took just 11 overs of the morning session on day two to polish off England’s tail, as Andrew Strauss, unbeaten on 161 overnight, Graeme Swann and Stuart Broad, provided little resistance to some good swing bowling by Ben Hilfenhaus.

A defiant last wicket stand of 49, again involving James Anderson, a hero at Cardiff, made England’s first innings total more respectful.

And it was Anderson who was given first use of the new ball and with swing in the air he made the new cherry talk, reducing Australia to 10 for 2, as newbie Phillip Hughes once again failed; a note to all England followers who are calling for the head of Ravi Bopara, it takes time to establish yourself in an Ashes contest.

Ricky Ponting followed shortly after, given out caught at slip, despite not hitting the ball, but should have been given out lbw anyway. A case of right end result, despite the umpires got there by going down the wrong path.

Simon Katich again threatened to build another monster partnership as he did at Cardiff with Ponting, this time with Michael Hussey, but England’s bowlers were finally bowling to the fields set for them, and Katich perished pulling to a magnificent tumbling catch by Stuart Broad at deep square leg.