When he played for Lancashire, Sourav Ganguly was about as popular in Mancunian circles as Arsene Wenger, and that antipathy came home to roost when Lancashire's favourite son, Andrew Flintoff, bowled to Ganguly in the Test series in India last winter. Flintoff is never shy of banging a few in short, and that, allied to Ganguly's vulnerability against the short ball and a bit of niggle, meant only one thing - a bumper barrage. As our graph shows, Flintoff landed over 70% (28 out of 39) of his deliveries to Ganguly short of a length, and only deigned to pitch it up once.

And Ashley Giles wasn't the only man to operate a leg-theory policy in that series. Flintoff sent down over 70% of his deliveries to Ganguly (29 out of 39) on or outside leg stump. Maybe he should have gone for a more orthodox approach: the one time Flintoff dismissed Ganguly was with a delivery that pitched on off stump, and which Ganguly prodded to Martyn Ball (remember him?) in the slips.

In all, it was a pretty even contest - Ganguly made 24 runs for that one dismissal - and one that the protagonists will be looking forward to resuming in England. Ganguly's celebration after the NatWest Series final, when he whipped his shirt off as Flintoff had after the final one-dayer in India, suggests they are not done yet.

Rob Smyth is on the staff of Wisden.com.

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