'The night was wild and I was hammered' - Andrew Flintoff opens up on how an all-night party with Oasis coincided with his career ending

Andrew Flintoff was one of the most popular all-rounders of his time. In a career that spanned more than a decade, Flintoff represented the England side in 79 Tests, 141 ODIs, and 7 T20Is.

And now, the current 43-year-old has opened up on how a late-night event he attended involving guitarist Serge Pizzorno and singer Tom Meighan, and the Oasis in 2009 coincided with the end of his career on the cricket field.

Flintoff describes that night as a ‘wild one’. Flintoff added that people were hammered in the place and the staff that was present was trying to calm things down. The England cricket great also said that he was trying to forget about his knee injury, that was bothering him. In fact, Flintoff had an appointment with a doctor to treat his knee the next day.

“The night was certainly wild, like something you would imagine in the early Seventies with the Rolling Stones. Everyone was hammered, the staff were trying to calm it down, guests were complaining. Looking back, part of me was celebrating a great Test match and part wanted to forget about my knee and let off steam,” said Flintoff as quoted by The Sun.

I was boozing to try and change the way I felt: Andrew Flintoff

Andrew Flintoff went to bed only at 6 AM, and he had an appointment with the doctor at 8 AM to fix his knee. The England cricketer added that he was told by the doctor that an operation was needed to repair his knee and if he decided to continue playing cricket, his knee might never get repaired. “I was hammered and my career was ending,” said Flintoff.

Flintoff continued to play for England for a few months after that and has now said that deciding to play on post his knee injury played an important role in cutting his cricket career short. Flintoff also added that drinking had turned into a problem for him and he would continue to drink for several sessions.

“I was boozing to try to change the way I felt and that’s when it became a problem. If I latched on, I would get into drinking, and not just for one session. It would go on for weeks and that couldn’t continue,” concluded Flintoff.