Andrew Flintoff

[Deleted member 35923]

I agree via Flintoff to a degree.

But I don't like Atherton, he was an average batter and a poor leader. When he talks you would assume that he had this great career, he was best of a bad bunch. The way he patronises Collingwood when he used to talk about him and to him, you could tell you thought he was a better player than him, he wasnt, Collingwood got a double hundred in Australia against Warne and Mcgrath. Next.

Atherton was a very good batsman. His Test match average may not be quite as high as Collingwood's but he was a far superior player to Collingwood (as much as I like him).

Atherton was up against Wasim and Waqar, Ambrose and Walsh, Donald and Pollock, McGrath and Warne, Murali, Kumble and others while they were at their peak. He played in an era which had arguably the greatest selection of bowlers and while pitches were still very iffy in places

 

[Mackem DJ]

Atherton was up against Wasim and Waqar, Ambrose and Walsh, Donald and Pollock, McGrath and Warne, Murali, Kumble and others while they were at their peak. He played in an era which had arguably the greatest selection of bowlers and while pitches were still very iffy in places

Colly still faced a lot of these too. Its only the last 3 years or so the standard of bowling has really gone to shit in test cricket imho allowing average cricketers to get massive averages whilst the likes of Alec Stewart & Atherton didnt even average 40.

 

[Wise Man Says]

Atherton was a very good batsman. His Test match average may not be quite as high as Collingwood's but he was a far superior player to Collingwood (as much as I like him).

Atherton was up against Wasim and Waqar, Ambrose and Walsh, Donald and Pollock, McGrath and Warne, Murali, Kumble and others while they were at their peak. He played in an era which had arguably the greatest selection of bowlers and while pitches were still very iffy in places

And Atherton had the weight of the world on his shoulders captaining probably the worst England team ever.

 

[smoker]

Atherton was a very good batsman. His Test match average may not be quite as high as Collingwood's but he was a far superior player to Collingwood (as much as I like him).

Atherton was up against Wasim and Waqar, Ambrose and Walsh, Donald and Pollock, McGrath and Warne, Murali, Kumble and others while they were at their peak. He played in an era which had arguably the greatest selection of bowlers and while pitches were still very iffy in places

And nearly all of them made him their bitch. Watching him bat was like the Alamo.

Stewart, Trescothick, Gooch, Vaughan etc all averaged 40 and above against much the same bowlers.

As for his captaincy, 13 wins from 54 tests is only marginally better than Freddie's record. I can't recall his team ever really 'taking the game' to the opposition. Harmison's bouncer in Ricky Ponting's face did more for English cricket than Mike Atherton did in 100-odd tests.

 

[rentaghost]

And Atherton had the weight of the world on his shoulders captaining probably the worst England team ever.

Atherton also did average 40 for a great deal of his career but captaincy and a chronic back problem saw his form deteriorate towards the end.

And nearly all of them made him their bitch. Watching him bat was like the Alamo.

Stewart, Trescothick, Gooch, Vaughan etc all averaged 40 and above against much the same bowlers.

As for his captaincy, 13 wins from 54 tests is only marginally better than Freddie's record. I can't recall his team ever really 'taking the game' to the opposition. Harmison's bouncer in Ricky Ponting's face did more for English cricket than Mike Atherton did in 100-odd tests.

It was a rotten era to be a captain. We didn't have the playing pool we had later and the whole set up was unprofessional with the likes of Illingworth running the show and undermining the captain's every move. Having the likes of Fletcher / Flower and central contracts made a captains job far easier

 

[smoker]

Atherton also did average 40 for a great deal of his career but captaincy and a chronic back problem saw his form deteriorate towards the end.



It was a rotten era to be a captain. We didn't have the playing pool we had later and the whole set up was unprofessional with the likes of Illingworth running the show and undermining the captain's every move. Having the likes of Fletcher / Flower and central contracts made a captains job far easier

Fair comments, however I do think we had some good batting talent in that time. Crawley, Hick, Thorpe, Ramprakash and Smith were all great players who failed to meet their full potential.

I also recall a few players being critical of Atherton's people skills. Paul Nixon described him as smarmy and dismissive of junior players.

Now Atherton is a pundit and employed to comment on cricket, but he described cook as a plodder and a donkey in the field which transcends objective criticism into outright cnutishness. Freddy was spot on to stick up for him, and hindsight proves just how misguided Atherton was.