Who would win in a match between an Andrew Flintoff XI (that is, a team of eleven Flintoffs) and a Mitchell Johnson XI (a team of eleven Johnsons)?
Here are their current stats:
Andrew Flintoff
Cricinfo stats here
Tests: 75
Runs: 3645
Batting Average: 167
Wickets: 218
Best bowling: 5 for 58
Bowling average: 32.07
In Flintoff’s last Test, he scored a pair of ducks, and his last century was during the Third Test of the 2005 Ashes series. Flintoff’s bowling, however, is still strong. He averaged 30.2 with the ball in that West Indies series, and still looks the goods in that department. Is he still a world-class allrounder, capable of batting at 6 or 7? I doubt it.
Mitchell Johnson
Cricinfo stats here
Tests: 21
Runs: 694
Highest score: 123no
Batting Average: 34.70
Wickets: 94
Best bowling: 8 for 61
Bowling average: 28.01
In the South Africa v Australia Test Series Johnson was tied for leading wicket taker with Dale Steyn, and he was the third highest run scorer for Australia. That’s a pretty good allrounder performance.
The scorecard
The Australian has a higher batting average, thanks largely to his unbeaten 123 in his last Test innings. Because this comparison is based on individual averages, Johnson’s XI would score more runs than a Flintoff XI. The Australian also has a superior bowling average, so his bowling performance would add less runs to Flintoff’s score (for more information on how this works, have a look at this England v Australia statistical analysis).
However, Freddie Flintoff has years of experience ahead of his rival, and the opposition know how destructive he can be. Just take a look at what he did in 2005. Assuming he gets back to full fitness, the Aussie batsmen will definitely be thinking about how they can survive against England’s premier fast bowler.
Flintoff v Johnson would be a close match, but Johnson would win in this battle of allrounders, suggesting perhaps that the Australian is at least as good, or better, than England’s talisman.
Or do the statistics lie?
Have your say in the comments box below.
Update: March 27, 2009
Have a look at these Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Mitchell Johnson and Andrew Flintoff. Johnson is currently ranked as the #2 allrounder in Test cricket, whilst Flintoff is at #4. However, what’s worth noting is the graph for each player, which suggests that Flintoff peaked in 2005, whilst Johnson is still on the way up.
My brother-in-law, an English cricket fan, said, “we need to take experience into account here, and Flintoff wins that hands down“. Yes, Flintoff has experience, but as an allrounder he seems to be on the way down. He’s still a very good player, but he’s not what he used to be.
