August 1, 2008

To get my Cricket fix, I usually purchase a web feed from Willow TV. They are a good setup, they’ve stablized their act over the last year and the webcasts are generally smooth and have tolerable resolution. The other option is to get the feed on Dish but unfortunately a tree blooms every Spring/Summer blocking the satellite signal leaving me with only Winter cricket on high-res. So, the tree survives and cable it is.

I woke up to the Willow stream still running from the India vs. Sri Lanka game and saw that they were showing England vs. South Africa. I ididn’t pay for the feed, but who’s complaining ;). It was one of those special sessions… I was treated to a fast bowling clinic by Freddie Flintoff.

I have always said that, in my estimation, 2005-Present, a fit Flintoff is the best fast bowler on the planet. He can get it up to 90+mph (I have seen 95.6mph on the gun)… his “swing-axe” action generates unsettling bounce… and he couples it with awesome controlled aggression. Additionally, he’s an absolute pleasure to watch in the slips. He takes catches no 6’ 5” human should take.

I tuned into the game just as McKenzie conjured two sort-of-in-control boundaries against Flintoff and then got a beautiful inswinger to get out. Cue the roar and celebrations.

The coupe-de-grace though was how Kallis got owned. This was a grooved in Kallis, the one that bats in an unfettered bubble, past the 50 run mark and moving along with Panzer like precision. Flintoff peppered him short, as he had with almost all his rivals that day, and mixed it up with excellent line and then yorkers. The end came in a 5th ball crescendo as a yorker on off-stump unsettled the furniture. Owned.

I am not sure about Flintoff the “batting all-rounder”. But as a bowler, he has no equal in today’s generation. His lineage is rare… so rare that you can name such men on your fingers… Joel Garner, John Snow, Vintcent Van Der Bijl, Slyvester Clarke, Curtly Ambrose and Andrew Flintoff. These are the best “heavies” the game of cricket ever produced. All of them are 6’ 5” - 6’ 10”… and just exceptional assets in their respective teams.

I enjoyed seeing Ambrose and I still think he was the superior fast bowler; but Flintoff is very, very close when on fire and a good replacement. The others I have not seen live…except for Clarke in a masters game against an Indian XI and he looked pretty amazing even @ 40+… so I can’t comment on the best heavy ever.

They all have low averages & economy rates… they give nothing away and they are never afraid to bruise you. It makes for excellent theatre. Thanks for the entertainment, Fred.

Flintoff Celebrates

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