Freddy's Era (The Stone Age?)
why do people keep going on about flintffs "era"?
he performed for about 3-4 series consistently and played good cricket in the ashes,
but thats all he was,
a 3-4 series wonder.
he hasnt done much else in his career apart from getting injured and shoddy performances.
I'm not sure Shahid Afridi's fans are experts on consistency.
Flintoff bowled well in every England Test series he played from the start of 03-04 to the start of 06-07, England's best bowler, taking 136 wickets at 26.26. To be able to add any batting at all is fantastic, much less at an average well over 30.
In terms of all-round Test consistency, 24 months between October 1 2003 and October 1 2005 mark his peak Test form. He scored more than 1500 runs at 41.45 and took 100 wickets at 24.73.
In ODIs, his bowling has virtually always been effective, hence the stately career average of 25. His batting has also tended to show greater consistency of scores in the format.
In the 36 month period from July 1 2002 to July 1 2005, he scored 1484 runs at a burly average of 44.97, England's second most prolific behind Trescothick. This period also saw him as England's best ODI bowler, with 61 wickets at 21.43 and economy of less than four an over.
One could easily argue that he was the most valuable player in the world for at least two full years. His Wisden Cricketer of the Year 2004, ICC One-Day Player of the Year 2004 and ICC Player of the Year in 2005 attest to this.
