25 Facts about Andrew Flintoff - The Multi-talented English All-rounder

Andrew Flintoff was the mainstay all-rounder of the English team when he was at his peak. Flintoff is often remembered for his heroics on the field during the Ashes 2005 in which he played a crucial role to take his team to an emphatic series victory. Nicknamed Freddie, Flintoff was also one of the most animated characters on the field. His on-field and off-field antics made him popular in the World of Cricket.

Here are 25 interesting facts about Andrew Flintoff:

1. Early life- Cricket in his blood:

Flintoff was born on December 6, 1977. His father Colin Flintoff, was a plumber and factory maintenance officer but played cricket too. He was the captain of Dutton Forshaw second XI cricket team. His brother Chris was a cricket player too.

2. A scholar in school:

Andrew Flintoff did his primary schooling from Greenlands County Primary School and Ribbleton Hall High School. As a young kid, he excelled at academics and cleared 9 GCSEs before deciding to leave school at the age 16.

3. Early cricket days:

Flintoff represented Lancashire Schools U-11s and U-15s teams in his early cricket days before he went on to represent England U-19 team. He captained the U-19 national team on their tour to Pakistan in 1996-97 and also in Zimbabwe U-19 tour to England in the following year.

4. England debut:

Owing to his performances at the U-19 level, Freddie was soon drafted to the national side and made his Test debut in 1988 against South Africa at Trent Bridge.

5. Crucial Indian tour:

Freddie always had fitness concerns and largely due to his inconsistent performances, he was dropped from the side. In England’s 2001 tour to India, he was selected again. He had a horrifying tour to India due to which he even broke down in the dressing room. But the last ODI turned his career upside down. Entrusted with bowling the final over with India needing 11 to win, he ran out Anil Kumble and bowled Javagal Srinath with successive balls to win the match.

6. The Shirtless celebration:

It was the same game and after winning the match for England, he removed his jersey in the celebratory moment. In the following year, his team received a similar offering when Sourav Ganguly removed his shirt after winning the Natwest Series in 2002.

7. His father dropped his catch!

During the 2^nd Test of the West Indies tour to England in 2004, Flintoff made his career best score of 167 runs. During this innings, watched by a crowd of 20,000, Flintoff hit a six off Jermaine Lawson into the top tier of the Ryder Stand. A man stood to claim the catch and dropped it – it was none other than Flintoff’s father.

8. The Year of Freddie: 2004:

Flintoff made the calendar year of 2004 as his own with scintillating performances. In the series against West Indies, he scored two consecutive centuries and made a top score of 167. Against India, he scored a crucial 99 the same year. In the Champions Trophy, he hit an ODI ton against Sri Lanka a couple of weeks later. At the end of the season, he was named as the inaugural winner of the ICC Award for ODI player of the year, and the Professional Cricketers’ Association player of the year.

9. The memorable Ashes:

In the 2nd 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. He took a match haul of 7 wickets in the same match and England won the match by 2 runs. In the Trent Bridge Test, he scored a century and took a five-wicket haul to ensure a draw for the home side.

10. Captaincy and the 2006-07 Ashes:

In 2006, he was named as the captain for the Test series against India. England managed to draw the Test series. During the Ashes, the same year, he did not have a successful outing; leading his side to five straight losses.

11. Retirement:

Due to persistent injuries, he announced his retirement from all forms of the game after consulting with his doctors on September 16, 2010.

12. Coming back from retirement:

Flintoff came out of retirement in May 2014, returning to Lancashire to play T20 only. He dismissed Ian Bell with the ball and hit two sixes in the penultimate over as Lancashire fell just short against Birmingham Bears.

13. Third highest wicket taker:

Flintoff is the third highest English wicket-taker in one-day international cricket with 168 wickets, and the 13th highest in Test cricket, with 219 wickets.

14. The six-hitter:

Flintoff holds the record for the most sixes scored for England, beating Ian Botham’s record of 67 with a six off India’s Piyush Chawla in Mohali on 11 March 2006.

15. The Lord’s Honors board:

He is one of the seven players to be on both the batting and bowling honors boards at Lord’s. Other players on the list are Sir Gubby Allen, Sir Ian Botham, Ray Illingworth, Stuart Broad, Vinoo Mankad, Keith Miller.

16. Controversies- Binge Drinking:

During the 2007 World Cup, he got drunk and almost drowned when the boat carrying them capsized. He was fined for his act but was retained in the squad. This was not the only time he was indulged in such act.

17. The media connect:

Flintoff won the Australian TV series I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! held in the Kruger National Park in South Africa. He was crowned “King of the Jungle” after spending 29 days in the Jungle.

18. A Producer too!

Flintoff also produced a documentary entitled Freddie Flintoff: Hidden Side of Sport, about him and other sports stars’ suffering of clinical depression in the year 2012.

19. IPL stint:

In February 2009, the Chennai Super Kings bought Andrew Flintoff for USD 1,550,000 – $600,000 above his base price of $950,000. This makes him the highest-ever-paid IPL player, alongside compatriot Kevin Pietersen, even more than MS Dhoni’s $1,500,000. But Flintoff did not find success at the tournament.

20. Not just cricket:

Since his childhood, Freddie has also been an avid Chess player.

21. A Pro-Boxer:

Andrew Flintoff turned into a pro-boxer in 2012. He has been involved in just one fight till date, which took place on November 30, 2012, at Manchester. In his fight against, Richard Dawson, he emerged victorious.

Also Read – 10 Cricketers with interesting post retirement professions

22. Guinness world record holder:

Andrew Flintoff holds 14 Guinness World Records in aid of Sport Relief under his name in the Guinness Book of World Records. Some of these records are- most party poppers popped in one minute (52), farthest distance to score a bullseye, fastest 100m Zorbing (in 26.59 seconds) and most peas eaten with a cocktail stick in 30 seconds (38).

23. Awards galore:

Freddie received many awards for his achievements which included- Wisden Leading Cricketer in 2005, ICC Player of the Year 2005, Cricket Writers’ Club Young Cricketer of the Year in 1998, Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy in 2005, BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 2005, NBC Dennis Compton Award in 1997 and Freedom of the City of Preston in 2006.

24. Personal life:

In 2004, Andrew Flintoff’s fiancée, Rachael Wools, gave birth to their first child, Holly. He married her on March 5, 2005. Their second child Corey was born during the series in India in 2006. Their third child Rocky was born in 2008.

25. The Author:

Flintoff has penned down many autobiographies so far. Some of the notable mentions are- Being Freddie, Freddie, Andrew Flintoff, My Life in Pictures and Ashes to Ashes.