Andy Flower is a great cricketer

John Ward20-Sep-2001Andy Flower is a great cricketer. After his feats against the powerful South African bowling attack, this can be said without any doubt at all.He is not a batting genius in the mould of Sachin Tendulkar or Brian Lara. He is simply a very talented player who has made just about the most of his ability that any human being is capable of making. He is in the same mould as Steve Waugh, a batsman rightly respected and admired round the world for doing exactly the same. But Andy Flower, who has a higher batting average than Waugh and plays for a losing rather than a winning side, is still not a legend in the game worldwide, as he should be. Except to his fellow international cricketers, who voted him the International Player of the Year, even before the South African tour.Andy has now scored 4330 runs in his 54 Test matches at an average of 55.51; only Tendulkar, at 57.18, is higher among current players, and he has a better record in India than overseas. Andy has 11 Test centuries to his credit, and not a single one was easy. Perhaps it would be appropriate to list them, together with the circumstances in which they were made:1) 115 v India, at Delhi, 1992/93. Facing an Indian total of 536 for seven declared. Out of a total of 322; Grant Flower made 96 and nobody else much at all. Zimbabwe still lost by an innings.2) 156 v Pakistan, at Harare Sports Club, 1994/95. Went in with Zimbabwe 42 for three and the Pakistani bowlers moving the ball all over the place. Counter-attacked, shared a record partnership for brothers in Test cricket with Grant, who scored 201 not out – but it was Andy who seized the initiative from Pakistan and led to Zimbabwe’s first victory in Test cricket.3) 112 v England, at Queens Sports Club, 1996/97. In the first innings of the First Test, worked hard for his century to give Zimbabwe a total of 376. England just failed to win the only Test so far ever to end as a draw with scores level.4) 105 not out v Sri Lanka, at Colombo, 1997/98. No Test has such bitter memories for the players as this one, when television evidence shows that one umpiring decision after another went against Zimbabwe, allowing Sri Lanka to win by five wickets. Andy set up the position for what should have been a Zimbabwean win, with his century out of 299 in the second innings after a narrow first-innings lead of 26 and the match very much in the balance.5) 100 not out against Pakistan, at Queens Sports Club, 1997/98. Again the match was in the balance, as Zimbabwe had taken a first-innings lead of 65 but were staggering at 25 for four when Andy went in. Shared an unbroken partnership of 277 with Murray Goodwin (166 not out) that gave Zimbabwe the advantage, although Pakistan successfully fought out a draw.6) 129 against Sri Lanka, at Harare Sports Club, 1999/2000. Only Murray Goodwin and Guy Whittall gave him much support as his century in the second innings, after a first-innings deficit of 258, just failed to save Zimbabwe from defeat.7) 113 not out against West Indies, at Port-of-Spain, 1999/2000. The only batsmen on either side to pass 50 in the match on a difficult pitch, he scored his runs out of a total of 236, giving Zimbabwe a first-innings lead of 49. This should have led to victory, but the team crumbled under high pressure on a difficult pitch against Ambrose and Walsh in the second innings to be dismissed for 63.8) 183 not out against India, at Delhi, 2000/01. The first innings of the First Test, always critical, and his innings gave Zimbabwe a total of 422 before, in retrospect, a misguided declaration. Despite Andy’s 70 in the second innings, Zimbabwe lost.9) 232 not out against India, at Nagpur, 2000/01. Zimbabwe followed on early on the fourth day, 227 runs behind. Thanks to Andy, Zimbabwe saved the match.10) 142 against South Africa, at Harare Sports Club, 2000/01, in the first innings. Facing a South African total of 600 for three declared. Only Dion Ebrahim (71) of the leading batsmen gave him much support.11) 199 not out against South Africa, at Harare Sports Club, 2000/01, in the second innings. Only Hamilton Masakadza (85) of the others reached 20. This innings meant that Andy scored over half his team’s entire run total in the match and avoided an innings defeat, at least.All these centuries were also scored when keeping wicket, and three (numbers two, six and seven) when captain as well. As noted, all were scored in pressure situations with the match in the balance or Zimbabwe facing defeat. Surely no cricketer in the history of the game has for so long borne such a burden with such success as has Andy Flower.The commentators felt that his certainty of shot selection throughout the series was matchless. Rarely was he beaten; hardly ever did he play the wrong stroke. I would add to that his sheer mental strength. South Africa are fearsome opponents, second only to Australia, and at Harare they were in a position of strength and eager to rub it in. Andy yielded nothing. After ten hours keeping wicket, he spent almost 15 more at the batting crease, for hour after hour, never bogged down, never giving anything away.If Zimbabwe had even one more batsman with the mental strength of Andy Flower, we would have a much stronger team. Sometime in the near future, we hope to interview Andy and get him to share the secrets of his mental strength. He has spent endless hours perfecting his batting technique, with far more dedication than certain other players that could be named. He has also spent his life developing his mental strength. We need more players prepared to do this.THE NEXT ANDY FLOWER?
Perhaps Hamilton Masakadza will be our next Andy Flower. Hamilton again frustrated the opposition in his second and third Test matches, scoring 85 in Harare and a vital 42 not out to help save the match in Bulawayo.The Bulawayo match was a particular test of his temperament, as Claude Henderson was bowling dangerously well on a crumbling pitch and Zimbabwe were suddenly facing the possibility of defeat without being mentally prepared for it. Hamilton was visibly edgy at first, but he toughed it out. When he hit Henderson for a six and a four in an over, taking Zimbabwe to four runs of parity with South Africa with 20 minutes left for play, the tourists knew they could not win and called the match off.Hamilton has played very significantly in each of his three Tests to date, although only in the second innings so far. He is a more accomplished player at 18 than Andy Flower was; Andy did not even make the full Zimbabwean side until he was 20, when he was still very limited in attack but with a strong defence.Next year, though, Hamilton plans to go to university, and is hoping for Cape Town. He believes he can handle both a full university course and his cricket career for Zimbabwe, but he will certainly be tested. So far he has shown great mental strength, and it is to be hoped he will manage to combine his two `careers’ for as long as is necessary and become our next world-class batsman.ZIMBABWE BOWLING
I have never seen our bowling, which hardly constituted an `attack’, look more helpless than on the first day of the series in Harare. Openers Herschelle Gibbs and Gary Kirsten were away at a rate of knots, scoring at a run a ball and taking only 50 and 53 balls respectively to reach their fifties. South Africa looked in midafternoon as if they were going to score 500 runs in the day, but with one-speed Kallis batting at only four an over they slowed down in the final session, being content with `only’ 414 for one.It should have been two, as Kallis snicked a catch to the keeper when on 22, but it went undetected by the umpire. But a slaughter was always likely for Zimbabwe’s feeble bowling. True, the bowling was seriously weakened by injuries, with Andy Blignaut, Bryan Strang and Brighton Watambwa all missing the series. But we should have adequate reserves, certainly bowlers who can at least bowl accurately.The accuracy of Bryan Strang was sorely missed. The selectors did not look around for another bowler who could be relied on to keep a brake on the scoring, and so there was nobody able to put the slightest pressure on the batsmen, who had to do nothing more than wait for the loose balls, delivered regularly, and climb in. They need have looked no further than the commentary box. Pommie Mbangwa, a forgotten man these days it seems, had to sit upstairs and comment on the play when he could have done the job far better. Gary Brent is another of lesser pace but greater accuracy than those on display.Sadly, it must be admitted that Heath Streak on current form is no longer a great bowler, although still the best paceman we have. He took no wickets in the series, but hopefully this will bring home to him the need to pay extra attention to that side of his game. He has rarely bowled his best since taking over the captaincy. His batting has flourished with the responsibility, although not in this series, but his bowling has declined.He is not hitting the gloves as hard, his line strays too often and he is not moving the ball as dangerously as he used to. At 27 and fast-medium rather than genuinely fast, he should be in his prime. Whatever the problem is, Zimbabwe needs him to sort it out, even if it means resigning the captaincy.His captaincy too appeared limited, as he showed few ideas of how to winkle out the South African batsmen. On a turning pitch in Bulawayo, with Paul Strang injured, he might for example have tried leg-spinner Masakadza, or even Alistair Campbell. Anything for a change, as the established bowlers were getting nowhere. It was disappointing, and it hurts to say so of one of Zimbabwe’s greatest players, but we know he can do far better.Finally, a word of praise for the new Harare Sports Club ground curator, Dirk Moore-Gordon, who has come over to headquarters from the Academy ground at Country Club. During the past two seasons the Harare Sports Club pitch earned a notorious reputation for surfaces over-friendly to pace bowlers, which so often played into the hands of Zimbabwe’s opponents – especially when they won the toss and put us in, as invariably happened. It was a very good pitch for the South African Test, and hopefully it will force our bowlers to improve their game if they want to take wickets on it.WHY AUSTRALIA ARE BETTER THAN SOUTH AFRICA
Australia and South Africa are the two strongest teams in world cricket at the moment, with Australia slightly ahead. The Bulawayo Test, I believe, shows why South Africa are still a little behind their great rivals.After the loss of the second day’s play, South Africa seemed to be satisfied with the prospect of a draw. Although it was never easy to score runs on a pitch that was benign, but a little too slow and dry, they made no real effort to chase the Zimbabwe total of 419 in quick time. They batted on until tea on the final day, when they declared with a lead of exactly 100.One session was hardly enough to bowl Zimbabwe out a second time – although with some of our batting collapses nothing was impossible. But, with the ball turning sharply, South Africa suddenly scented possible victory. They crowded the batsmen, applied the pressure and the game came alive again. In the end the determination of Andy Flower and Hamilton Masakadza saw Zimbabwe through.Australia would have played it differently. After the close of the Zimbabwean innings, they would have been hell-bent on victory. They would not have pottered around as Kallis and his companions did at less than three runs an over. They would have gone for the runs, possibly even declared behind, and got Zimbabwe in to bat again certainly before lunch on the final day – even if they did not have Shane Warne in their team.South Africa do not have that same intense hunger for and determination to win that Australia have, and that is why Australia remain the top team. South Africa are extremely good, there is no doubt of that, but the Australians have that extra commitment to victory that has made them top and will probably keep them there for some time to come.