London, September 17: “The decision to end my career came yesterday (Wednesday) after consultation with medical advisers,” Flintoff said. “Having been told that my body would no longer stand up to the rigours of cricket, I had no alternative but to retire.”
For all Flintoff’s great deeds on behalf of England, it was clear some of his former team-mates regarded persistent talk about his possible return as an irritating distraction.
Meanwhile his repeated insistence he didn’t like the spotlight away from the game was in contrast to the frequency with which he turned up to just about every endorsement opportunity that came his way. But there was no denying his importance to the England team in the years of his pomp, an importance in no way reflected by career statistics which, as Flintoff has acknowledged, left him some way short of being classed as one of cricket’s “greats”.
England captain Andrew Strauss, acknowledging Flintoff’s contribution, said: “He was always the ultimate impact cricketer, somebody who on so many occasions stepped up to the plate.
“He would put his body on the line on flat wickets when other bowlers were maybe starting to struggle. Because of the way he bowled, and what he put into it, it was probably not as easy for him to get seven-fors and eight-fors,” the opening batsman added.
“But if you talked to other players around the world, they would always say Andrew was one of the bowlers they least wanted to face — because he could be so hostile. “We are all striving to gain the respect of our peers,” Strauss said. “Andrew certainly did that.”
———Agencies