Freddie to Retire from Test Cricket

Flintoff has called a press conference for 12.30pm today, where it's expected he'll announce his retirement from test cricket (and perhaps other forms) as soon as the Ashes are over.

Feel so sorry for the bloke, so many times he's had to go through hell to get back to 'fitness' so that he could play for his country, but his body seems to be made of glass.

Absolute legend for English cricket

Confirmed on Sky Sports now that he is set to retire after the Ashes.

Good decision. He has had a good career in Test Cricket but when you keep on getting injuries the way he does then something is obviously not right.

When one looks back it will be at what is actually a very mediocre record.

He is someone who could and should be a talisman (and often was), but a mixture of injury and inability to look after himself have meant his achievements were not nearly as much as they should've been.

Jason H said:

When one looks back it will be at what is actually a very mediocre record.

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I see where your coming from. Hasn't he only taken 5 wickets in a test match a couple of times? His batting average isn't great either, but I think although he hasn't achieved as much as he should've, he will always be remembered for the Ashes 2005- like it or not. I hope he'll continue to play for the ODI team, but I get a feeling an end of International Cricket is near for him.

Ashes 2005 is fair enough, and of course nobody would deny his contribution there!

Sadly he, like many of the players, rested on his laurels afterwards - you could bet that when Australia win something they allow themselves a day to celebrate then are straight back plotting how to move forward. English sport could learn a thing or two about this.

Crucially, and criminally, Freddie's Test bowling average is higher than his batting average. Any truly great all-rounder would have the opposite.

A little statistical analysis:

Freddie - Batting 31.69, Bowling 32.51 (-0.82)
Botham - Batting 33.54, Bowling 28.40 (+5.14)
Kallis - Batting 54.51, Bowling 31.06 (+23.45!!!)
Hadlee - Batting 27.16, Bowling 22.29 (+4.87)
Khan - Batting 37.69, Bowling 22.81 (+14.88)
Dev - Batting 31.05, Bowling 29.64 (+1.41)
Akram - Batting 22.64, Bowling 23.62 (-0.98)

These are people considered the "great" all-rounders of the last 30 or so years. I've included Akram even though he was considered more a bowler who could bat a bit, but then, so was Hadlee and to an extent Kapil Dev - none of them would be picked on batting alone whereas the others could have been.

Freddie only comes out ahead of Akram, whereas the others all had better batting than bowling averages. Kallis is the obvious stand-out - one of the all-time greats in terms of his batting record, but who also has 250+ Test wickets.

Will be missed in the england team IMO. Whenever he was fit he was always on form

Fantastic cricketer and a massive loss to English cricket.

Hope he goes out with a bang.

Like Atherton was saying on the telly, a good test player who had a great series in 2005.

Think he still has a lot to offer for England as a one day player and hope his body lets him put in some big performances in the next few weeks