Andrew Flintoff took his role as cricketing all-rounder and applied it to life in general. After his playing days, the Englishman has been a boxer, host, podcaster, author, reality TV contestant, theatre artiste and, most recently, unpaid assistant coach.
Let’s explain the last bit first. In December 2022, Flintoff was airlifted to a hospital after crashing his car while filming for Top Gear. He has been a host of the famous television show for a few years now. Out of the public eye for months, Flintoff returned to cricket, albeit as a volunteer assistant coach for the national team during their recent New Zealand series.
There has been no confirmation of a relationship going forward, but if Flintoff does get the coaching gig, he would return to an arena where he might have some unfinished business. For all the greatness that oozed out of Flintoff―especially in the 2005 Ashes―he could never perform to potential in a World Cup. There were fitness issues in 1999; he made 15 runs in two innings and took two wickets. It was better in 2003―156 runs and seven wickets―and 2007, in the Caribbean, was good in terms of bowling. He took 14 wickets, but made only 92 with the bat.
What 2007 did give us was the story of the pedal-operated boat. Drinking into the wee hours with some of his teammates, Flintoff decided he wanted to meet Ian Botham, who he thought was on a yacht. He knew swimming would be dangerous, so he got a pedal boat. “I couldn’t find the oars, so I dragged this pedalo into the water,” he told Piers Morgan years later. “The next morning, I woke up, I was on my bed… still wet and… [there was] sand between my toes.”
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It could be one of those stories that add to the “legend” of a man, or it could be a cautionary tale. Flintoff chose the latter, quitting alcohol a few years later. He also talked openly about having depression and bulimia, setting the tone for the Ben Stokes’s of today to do the same.
He has also done his part to grow the sport in his country, taking it from the elite to everyone. In his highly rated show Freddie Flintoff’s Field of Dreams, for instance, he goes about making a team from a group of eclectic teens from his hometown of Preston.
Being around the boys really seems to help Flintoff, and vice versa. So, do not be surprised if you see Freddie at the Wankhede in a few days.