This morning, on Sky, Nasser Hussain, Mike Artherton and Ian Botham held forth an animated discussion on Andrew Fintoff's injury and his impending stint with the IPL.
The overwhelming consensus was that Flintoff and Pieterson playing in the IPL was a bad idea because there could be a chance for injury and with the Ashes looming in the distance, that would be bad for England.
There was also discussion that with Flintoff injured and the 3 week window for the IPL being the only rest period available, Flintoff would be better served resting than playing the IPL.
That, in short is the synposis of the discussion. The actual tone and tenor was more visceral, more animated and more hostile towards the IPL.
Which is fine.
So where is the same angst when Andrew Flintoff, with a hip injury et al, comes to bowl in the post lunch session and stands to aggravate an injury that has already seen him come lower down the batting order and stay off the field for the entirety of the first session on the fifth day?
If the injury aggravates enough for Flintoff to give the Ashes a skip, will the same venom be directed towards the ECB?
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Blame the IPL...
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12 comments:
Well Flintoff turning up half injured for "his country" and trying to take them to victory is surely not the same as appearing half injured in the IPL and threatening his chances of playing for his country..
Q,
Playing injured for his country or playing injured for the IPL both equally increase his chances of being out of action for the only series that matter to the English.
Cheers,
poms r cng the ipl millions, just like they saw the standford millions, gotta feeling they're gonna be just as hurt.
BCCI,
Agreed.. There seems to be a lot of antipathy towards money :).
Also, No issues with te argument against the IPl.. Problem is, the same argument applies against the ECB as well.
Cheers,
I'm with Q on this one Homer, also the IPL is in April, and I know that he's just available for three weeks, but is it worth him getting injured closer to the Ashes for a domestic tournament in India. I'm just trying to look at it from their point of view.
After pRick's magnificent sacrifice, are we actually going to see the boycott of the IPL by the English and Aussies before an Ashes' year? What brilliant strategy!
Achettup,
Flintoff is currently carrying an injury and still bowling. Which, as far as injury management goes, is appalling!
Now, the IPL starts in April - which means that there is the better part of two months for the current injury to heal.
It is also presumptuous to assume that he will get injured during the IPl - he could just as well slip in the outfield on a wet English day during the West Indies tour.
Blaming the IPL for what might happen is neither here nor there.
If they have to manage his injury, they have to manage his injury - not use hypothetical situations to beat up the IPL.
Cheers,
PS:- Thank God for the fact that Kevin Pieterson is South African ( a fact the Poms were quick to point out during the Peter Moores saga!) :)
Cheers,
Homer, I think the key here is as achettup puts it "their point of view" ... playing injured in a match for your country is considered as "courageous, committed, patriotic", etc.. while doing the same for a domestic team that is paying u millions is considered "foolish, for the money, greedy", etc...
I'm with Q, too. Getting (more) injured while playing for your own team has never been viewed in the same light as signing on for extra work with another team while injured.
The injury management is sometimes compromised with your own team, but that's been part of all sports for a long time.
Q/Jonathan,
Given that England have basically bowled Flintoff to the ground, "they" are welcome to keep him :)
I understand the English argument, if it was grounded in fact. The reason I am worked up about this is that they have taken worse case hypothetical scenarios and used it to beat up the IPL, which I think is unfair.
Cheers,
PS:- If Flintoff'ss career gets derailed because of this, I wonder how long it will take for him to make a comeback (if he makes a comeback).
Cheers,
I think there is a difference as his first priority lies with England team and not the IPL.
It is England team management's call whether to risk aggravating his injury for ths win or not. But if this aggravation does indeed prevents Flintoff from playing in Ashes, questions will be asked about his injury management.
His decision to play in the IPL when he needs a rest can be questioned but you cannot blame IPL for that. IPL can only be blamed if it forces Flintoff to play in the IPL.
RGB,
Agree with everything you say..
Cheers,
RGB, it certainly shouldn't be a matter of blame - I don't know what they actually said about it.
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