Flintoff to retire

[Nottingham Fox]

From Test Cricket after the Ashes ....

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK...nd_All-Rounder_Says_Injury_Has_Taken_Its_Toll

 

[Redditch Fox]

This should surprise no one. There has been growing speculation that he is coming to the end of his career.

He will do well if he is able to manage himself physically through much more of the shorter format game and I don't see him playing much more if any 4 day county cricket.

 

[Brauny Blue]

A shame but probaly a good thing really. Like the football team, England can sometimes become too obsessed with one player.

Freddie has never really fulfilled is potential imo.
A great icon of the game, but his stats will not push him into one of the ' greats ' of the game. In fact up against Bothams career it looks like he has fell well short.
That said he was usually great entertainment and everyone who watches cricket will never forget his exploits of 2005.
Just disappointing that his injuries have blighted his career, and the public have been denied seeing him at his best for far too long.

 

[glyn]

Not a surprise, and yes he will end up short of greatness. But still one of my all-time favourite crickets and a brilliant personality. Such a shame as his stats had been on a consistent upward trajectory until the end of the 2005 Ashes where he had reached a very similar point as Botham at the same time at their careers (big wicket hauls aside). But from then on he really hasn't achieved anything of note.

At least he peaked at the right time to win an Ashes series against an Aussie side full of greats.

Unlike Redditch I think he will have a lot of one day games left in him, but agree he won't play 4-day cricket.

 

[Redditch Fox]

I certainly see him fulfilling his contract to play in the 2010 IPL and of course next year we have the additional domestic T20 league.

But it will be interesting to see if he gets one of the abbreviated central contracts from the ECB. That will give us an indication if he is really likely to continue to play international cricket. Personally, I think that ambition will fade away over the next 12 months.

 

[CM]

Its a wise time for Flintoff and England to part company in the test arena.

For Flintoff, he can cash in on the IPL and take it relatively easy in the next few years. It would be horrible for him to have more surgery and for him to struggle to look after his family.

For England, well, I think we've been disorientated for a while by Flintoff's flip flopping in and out of the side. We have struggled to find a balance with us unsure about what to do with that #6 position. His performances have been on a downward path and hes become the sort of character in the dressing room, by all accounts, that we could do without.

Thanks for the memories, but I won't really miss him!

 

[Redditch Fox]

Its a wise time for Flintoff and England to part company in the test arena.

For Flintoff, he can cash in on the IPL and take it relatively easy in the next few years. It would be horrible for him to have more surgery and for him to struggle to look after his family.

For England, well, I think we've been disorientated for a while by Flintoff's flip flopping in and out of the side. We have struggled to find a balance with us unsure about what to do with that #6 position. His performances have been on a downward path and hes become the sort of character in the dressing room, by all accounts, that we could do without.

Thanks for the memories, but I won't really miss him!

Tend to agree with all that.

Also, although he has taken a sensible decision, the timing of his announcement on the eve of only the second test smacks once again of a 'celeb' rather than a professional cricketer who wanted to achieve the maximum publicity for himself.

All this stuff about individuals being "great characters" etc in the dressing room tends to mean that that in fact that they are disruptive.