Andrew Flintoff

Andrew Flintoff is a cricketer who plays for Lancashire and England. A tall (6′ 4″) fast bowler, aggressive batsman, fine fielder, and according to the ICC rankings, consistently rated amongst the top international allrounders in both ODI and Test cricket. Since his debut in 1998, Flintoff has become an integral player, and has both captained and vice-captained the team. He has been plagued with ankle injuries due to his bowling action, and in late 2007 a fourth operation took him out of cricket until summer 2008.

Flintoff was captain of the England Under-19 team for their Test match tour to Pakistan in 1996/7 and at home against Zimbabwe in 1997. He made his Test match debut for England in 1998 against South Africa at Trent Bridge, in a match remembered for its second-innings duel between Michael Atherton and Allan Donald; in a precursor to their subsequent all-round rivalry, Flintoff and Jacques Kallis exchanged wickets. Nonetheless, his struggle to make the grade at county level continued, he found form only intermittently, though often explosively when he did so. In 2000 he hit 135 not out in the Quarter-finals of the Natwest Trophy against Surrey. In the same year England’s management made clear they were unhappy with his fitness and weight, Flintoff responded to his critics with 42 not out in a one day game against Zimbabwe on his home ground of Old Trafford, forming an explosive second wicket stand with Graeme Hick; as he collected the Man of the Match award he remarked his performance was “not bad for a fat lad”. Though he lost his England place during 2001, he remodelled his bowling action and he gained a place on the 2001-02 tour to India. Though he hit possibly his worst international batting form during the Test series, frustrating him to the point that he broke down in tears in the dressing room at one stage, he later saw the tour as a turning point in his career, specifically the crucial final one-day match. Entrusted with bowling the final over with India needing 11 to win, he run out Anil Kumble and bowled Javagal Srinath with successive balls to win the match, taking off his shirt in celebration, through both joy and personal relief.

Following the Test series in South Africa in December 2004 and January 2005, Flintoff flew home for surgery on his left ankle, leading to worries he might not regain fitness in time for The Ashes. In fact, following a rehabilitation programme of swimming and hill-walking, he recovered ahead of schedule and was able to return to action for Lancashire in April.

In the Second Test against Australia at Edgbaston in August 2005, he broke Ian Botham’s 1981 record of six sixes in an Ashes Test Match with five in the first innings, and a further four in the second innings, 141 runs in total. In the same game he took a total of 7 wickets, including the wickets of Langer and Ponting in his first over in Australia’s run-chase. He managed all this despite a shoulder injury early in the second innings. England won the game by the narrowest of margins – just 2 runs, and saved their hopes of regaining the Ashes. Flintoff was named Man of the Match and captain Michael Vaughan subsequently dubbed the match Fred’s Test in honour of his achievement.

Flintoff scored a century during England’s crucial win at Trent Bridge. He took 5 wickets on the fourth day of the final test match, enabling England to go off for bad light and helping them to eventually secure a draw and regain the Ashes.
In October 2005, Flintoff shared the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for the ICC player of the year award with Jacques Kallis of South Africa. In December 2005, Flintoff was crowned BBC Sports Personality of the Year for 2005, the first cricketer since Botham in 1981. In the New Year’s Honours List for 2006, Flintoff was appointed an MBE for his role in the successful Ashes side. In January 2006, Flintoff was presented with Freedom of the City award for Preston, Lancashire.

In February 2006, following England captain Michael Vaughan and vice-captain Marcus Trescothick becoming unavailable for the first Test match against India, Flintoff was named captain of the England team and subsequently announced that he would be staying in India for the entire Test series, although he and his wife were expecting their second child. His wife gave birth to a son, Corey, shortly before the second Test on 9 March.

On the field, Flintoff was seen as a great success during the drawn series with India, with a 212-run victory in Mumbai. His contributions with both bat and ball ensured that he was named as the player of the series, with many commentators seeing Flintoff as someone who not only worked better under the responsibility but was also viewed as a great influence of an inexperienced side, which included many debutants, such as Alastair Cook, Owais Shah and Monty Panesar. Flintoff amassed four fifties in the series, and took 11 wickets, on unfriendly surfaces for seamers. Flintoff continued to captain England during the seven ODIs in India, although he was rested for two matches.

However, following a recurrence of his long-term ankle problem in May 2006, he missed both the ODI series against Sri Lanka, and the first Test against Pakistan. It was later announced in July that Flintoff’s rehabiltation had not been sufficient to quell the injury, and that further surgery would be required. He was thus ruled out for the entire series against Pakistan. Despite injury concerns, Flintoff was later named for the ICC Champions Trophy, where he played as a specialist batsman, not as an all-rounder.
After his previous stint as captain in the Test series against India, Flintoff returned as captain of the England team for the eagerly anticipated 2006-07 Ashes series in Australia. The series turned out to be a humiliating one for Flintoff, leading his side to five straight losses and thus losing the Ashes after having held them for the shortest time in history. In addition, he presided over England’s worst ever defeat in an Ashes series, equalling the 1921 whitewash at the hands of the Warwick Armstrong-led Australian team in the wake of World War I.

Flintoff’s own play in the 2006-07 series, both bowling and at the crease, was generally deemed disappointing. He made only two scores over 50 in the series, his best bowling figures were 4/99 in the first innings of the First Test in Brisbane, and he failed to get 5 wickets in a match. Flintoff played only one first-class game in the lead up to the series. He was initially undone by Australia’s excellent seam bowling but his batting improved throughout the series as he got more match practice. A persistent ankle injury prevented Flintoff from bowling long spells at full pace and Australia’s batsmen took advantage of this. According to Nasser Hussain during the tour he also had three or four warnings for inappropriate behaviour and binge drinking including arriving hungover for a training session.

Flintoff also captained England for several of the subsequent 2006-07 Commonwealth Bank Series One Day International matches. Michael Vaughan’s return from knee surgery was cut short by a hamstring injury and he was only able to play two matches, leaving Flintoff in charge for the remaining games. England qualified in the last game of eight group matches for the best-of-three finals against Australia, but reversed their poor form on tour with a 2-0 series win in the finals.

Flintoff contributed significantly with the ball in both matches, taking three wickets in the first match and allowing only 10 runs off 5 overs in the second as Australia chased a reduced total in a rain-hit match.

With Michael Vaughan returning from injury for the Cricket World Cup in the West Indies, Flintoff was replaced as captain but appointed England’s vice-captain.

In the opening match of the tournament against New Zealand Flintoff was out first ball in England’s innings and failed to take a wicket, although his bowling was very economical conceding only 17 runs in 8 overs, and he took a stunning one-handed catch at slip to dismiss Ross Taylor for a duck. On the evening of England’s defeat Flintoff – along with some other players and coaches from the England squad – indulged in some late night drinking in a night club, only two days before their vital match against Canada . In the early hours of the morning he was reported as having to be rescued after falling off a pedalo – this quickly became known in the media as the Fredalo incident. Flintoff and the others involved were reprimanded and fined and with Flintoff being stripped of the vice-captaincy and, in addition, he was suspended for the match against Canada. It was revealed by England coach Duncan Fletcher that Flintoff had had a number of previous warnings about his behaviour. Flintoff has since issued a public apology.

Flintoff returned to the England team for the last group match against Kenya, taking two wickets. In the Super 8 matches, Flintoff often excelled with the ball but failed to recover his batting form. Against Ireland he took 4-43 and scored 43 runs; against Sri Lanka he took 3-35 but was out for 2 and against Australia he took 1-35 but was out for 4. In the next match against Bangladesh Flintoff took 1-38 in 8 overs and scored 23 runs off 21 balls. Ultimately, he failed to influence an ailing English side and had a poor tournament. Michael Vaughan later commented that Flintoff’s pedalo antics had adversely affected team morale.

Flintoff returned for a couple of games with Lancashire, in preparation for the West Indies tour of England but he reinjured his ankle and was ruled out for the first Test which started on 17 May 2007. Having undergone another operation on the troublesome ankle, he missed the whole Test and one-day series against the West Indies, and was also ruled out for the subsequent Test series with India. Following several games for Lancashire, Flintoff returned for England in the first of seven ODIs against India on 21 August 2007. He bowled 7 overs and ended with figures of 1 for 12 in England’s 104 run victory. He hit an eventful nine runs during the second ODI, however while fielding he injured his knee and sat out England’s 42-run victory in the third ODI. He returned for the 4th ODI on 30 August. Flintoff missed England’s two narrow defeats to India in the 5th and 6th ODI before taking 3-45 in the 7th ODI, helping England win the series 4-3 in a 7 wicket victory. His ankle injury recurred during the end of the 2007 season, and although he played in the 2007 ICC World Twenty20, he did not accompany the England squad to Sri Lanka, and a fourth operation made it highly unlikely that he would play again before the summer of 2008, missing both the Sri Lankan test series and the 2008 tour of New Zealand. Flintoff, however, remained upbeat about his career.

Flintoff was back in action for Lancashire early in the 2008 season, but a side strain ruled him out of contention for the home series against New Zealand. However, after again returning to action in county cricket he was recalled to the England squad for the second Test against South Africa. He took his 200th Test wicket in the third Test of the series, trapping Neil McKenzie lbw for 72. Flintoff bowled consistently against the South Africans, and his batting began to show promise as he consistently made starts, before being moved back up to bat at six when Kevin Pietersen took over as captain. In the following one day series, Flintoff has so far been an important player for England, leading to Pietersen to describe him as a superstar. Flintoff scored 78 in both the first and third matches, as well as 31 not out off 12 balls in the fourth, whilst taking 3 wickets in the same match. This has led to many pundits speculating that Flintoff might just be back to his best. He won Man of the Series in the ODI home series against South Africa, where England won 4-0. He was both the top runs scorer and the top wicket taker of that series.

On England’s tour of India Flintoff started the series well. In their first warm-up match against Mumbai Cricket Association Flintoff scored a century, exactly 100. It was first century for England since the fourth test of the 2005 Ashes.

Personal information
Full name Andrew Flintoff
Nickname Freddie
Born 6 December 1977 (1977-12-06)
Preston, Lancashire, England
Height 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Batting style Right-handed
Bowling style Right-arm fast
Role All-rounder
International information
National side England
Test debut 23 July 1998: v South Africa
ODI debut 7 April 1999: v Pakistan

Andrew Flintoff Sixes

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