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With Englands Ashes failure still a horrible thorn in most English cricket fans memory the excuses and reasons why the tour was a miserable failure are now only just starting to surface. Ex England players, respected media men and the ordinary cricket supporter in the street have voiced there own opinion on why the Australian outfit thrashed a sorry looking England team. One school of thought that has started to come to light was Englands batting order. With most of the top 5 hopelessly out of form apart from the world class Kevin Pietersen many cricket fans were hoping that Andrew Flintoff would come to the party. Sadly this did not materialise. Lets make one thing clear in defence of the champion English all rounder, his fitness. Flintoff has had serious ankle problems for some time now and with a serious bowling workload expected from him over the 5 tests and the marathon one day series surely something had to give. It did of course, and it was his batting. Consistent low scores and looking totally lost at sea when facing quality seam and spin bowling resulted in the Lancashire all rounder failing miserably. By the end of series there have been big question marks on whether Flintoff has the talent and technique to be successful at the pivotal number 6 batting position for his country. With Michael Vaughn now recovering from serious injury and looking to force his way back into the team, the burden of captaincy should now be taken away from Flintoff. Often looking tired and dejected in the field (who wouldnt be after being constantly let down by both his bowlers and batsman alike) this must have had a serious effect on his own concentration and confidence levels when trudging out to bat. In 2005 when England won back the Ashes since 1986-7 Flintoff was the main catalyst for the triumphant England team. In other sports such as football such key players are often rested in order to protect form and to prevent injuries. In cricket, this is not the case, especially for a losing team where everyone is dependent on the best players. If you compare Flintoff to other number 6 batsman in world cricket he is somewhere in the middle. The problem England has is the frailty of the tail end batsmen and the inconsistency of the top order. Other test teams like India and South Africa have a very strong lower order which often fires and adds an extra 50 to 100 runs. This is often crucial in test matches and can quickly change the momentum of a cricket match. Only time will tell if Flintoff will succeed at test level batting at number six, infact with coach Duncan Fletcher under serious pressure a change in coach might be on the cards before the Cricket World Cup, that being the case the decision to change the batting line up might be quicker than first thought. Many cricket fans will hope the charismatic Flintoff will shine in the World Cup and dominate the bowling batting at number six, if not at least you know that you will be guaranteed 100 per cent effort from Andrew Flintoff in whatever position he bats.
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