Name:

Flintoff, Andrew

Nickname:

Freddie

Date of Birth:

06-12-1977

Place of Birth:

Preston

Career:

Test: 1998 - 2009
ODI: 1999 - 2009
T20: 2005 - 2007

Teams:

England (Country)
ICC World XI (Other)
Lancashire (Regional)

Freddy in Titanic Pose (Lords)

High impact allrounder was the difference in two Ashes wins

Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff was born in December 6, 1977 in Preston, Lancashire. He was a powerful hard hitting right handed batsman and aggressive fast bowler. After leading the England Under 19 team, he made his first class debut in 1995 for Lancashire.

He made his Test debut against South Africa in 1998. After several years of injury, Flintoff started a fitness regime that led to him delivering on his promise with a fine century against New Zealand in the 1st Test of 2002 in Christchurch. Flintoff was involved in a memorable partnership with Nasser Hussain that rescued England and eventually won them the match at Christchurch.

For a strike bowler, it was strange that he had to wait until the 1st Test in 2004 against the West Indies to take his first five wicket haul. He only took 3 five wicket hauls in his Test career.

Flintoff came into his own during the memorable Ashes battle in 2005. He was in good form throughought the series, scoring 402 runs with a century and taking 24 vital wickets. Most importantly, he projected a level of high confidence that rubbed off on his team mates and inspired them to win back the Ashes after a 18 year wait.

When both skipper Michael Vaughan and  vice-captain Marcus Trescothick were unavailable, Flintoff was appointed as skipper of the ill fated 2006/07 tour of Australia. England lost the series in a 5-0 whitewash to a rampant Australian team led by Ricky Ponting keen to exact revenge.

He ran into trouble on several occasions during his career.  The pedalo incident during the 2007 World Cup is worth noting. Flintoff was under the influence of alcohol and quickly got into difficulties during a late night jinx on the water. He had to be rescued. When the incident was made public, Flintoff was stripped off his vice captaincy.

Despite several injuries during this period, Flintoff made a return to the 2009 Ashes series at home. He took 5 wickets in a devastating spell at Lords to bowl out Australia and have England go 1-0 up in a series that they would eventually win 2-1.

Flintoff retired shortly afterwards as he realised that the injury toll was mounting. He now takes part in TV celebrity shows and also has a clothes line. He did try a comeback during the 2014/15 season in domestic T20's but failed due to injuries.

Flintoff is often compared to Botham. He did have an enormous impact on both the 2005 and 2009 Ashes wins for England during a period that Australia had a dominant team. Unlike Botham's career that stretched from 1977-1992 almost unhindered, Flintoff's career was massive disrupted by ankle and knee injuries. It is worth highligting that both had woeful runs at captaincy.

Source: CricketCrowd Staff Reporter