Biography of Andrew Flintoff:- Andrew Flintoff is a former England captain and all-rounder and a professional boxer. He was born on 6 December 1977 in Old Trafford, England.
Andrew Freddy Flintoff as his full name dominated the game in the early and mid years of his career but couldn’t last well to the end of his career due to unwanted injuries and multiple surgeries that forced him to retire from International cricket before the right time and place.
See Also: Biography of Kevin Pietersen
Andrew Flintoff played for Lancashire, his first cricket club since he was 11; he later went on to represent England Under-19 and England a cricket team before making his debut in 1998.
Biography of Andrew Flintoff
- Born:- 6 December 1977 (age 39), City of Preston, Lancashire, United Kingdom
- Height:- 1.93 m
- Spouse:- Rachael Wools Flintoff (m. 2005)
- Test Debut:- 23 July 1998 v South Africa
- ODI Debut:- 7 April 1999 v Pakistan
- TV shows:- A League of Their Own, Very British Problems
Andrew Flintoff stayed in and out of England team for 11 years. In September 2010, Freddy retired from all forms of cricket. Flintoff tried boxing in the same year that proved successful for him.
He also initiated a fashion designing startup later in 2014 that was quite satisfied and it still thrives as one of the leading brands.
Apart from designing clothes and playing cricket, Flintoff modeled on many ramps from London to Mumbai and did well in Media and Fashion Industry. He appeared as a judge, a contestant, and hosted in TV Shows.
Andrew Flintoff remained captain and vice-captain during the small periods playing for England. Flintoff made a comeback in cricket in 2015 playing for Australian Big Bash franchise Brisbane Heat.
It proved to be a bad idea, so he never participated in any league after that practice. Apart from cricket and boxing, Andrew Flintoff had been a part of multiple reality TV shows.
The 6 ft 4 in Freddy Flintoff participated in Sky 1 comedy show “A League of their Own” in 2015. He was also part of “I am a Celebrity, get me out of here,” a popular Australian show. Andrew Flintoff was a great chess player back in high school.
An interesting fact about Andrew Flintoff is that he left high school because it was boring and he couldn’t learn much there, according to him, though he was quite a bright student.
Early career
Andrew Flintoff got his inspiration in cricket from his dad Colin who was also a captain of his local cricket club. Since school, Andrew Flintoff was a fast bowler and quite a destructive batsman.
Andrew started playing for Lancashire schools when he was 10 years old. He played Under-11 and under-15 for Lancashire junior clubs. Later, Andrew Flintoff was signed by Lancashire County Club for Natwest Championship in 1996.
In the same year, Andrew Flintoff became a part of England Under-19 that toured Pakistan for a Test series. In the next year, Zimbabwe Under-19 visited England for a test series that gave a taste of International cricket to Andrew Flintoff that helped him in the years to come.
International Debut
Andrew Flintoff made his Test debut against South Africa in an away series in 1998. His form was acceptable but not impressive in domestic and international level.
Flintoff, after an unsuccessful start, returned back to county cricket to regain his form back. The year 2000 was a good one for Flintoff in domestic county season; Flintoff single-handedly won the quarterfinal for Lancashire.
It meant that he will participate in the next season for England. It was going well against Zimbabwe, in the next away series against India; Flintoff had his worst series ever in 2001.
Escalating as the Best All-rounder
Andrew Flintoff, after hitting bottom was destined to surge. The year 2002 sets the momentum for him though he wasn’t good as he made only a single century in test cricket.
In 2003, Flintoff shed some weight and regained his performance, this time to dominate the International arena for a long time. He made another century and three half-centuries to justify his selection.
After a successful out against South Africa, Andrew went to West Indies to have the best tour of his lifetime. He made back to back centuries along with some quality bowling.
Later, in a series against New Zealand and West Indies, Flintoff continued with two more centuries in ODI series. In a Test match against West Indies, Andrew Flintoff scored his career-best 167 runs.
He had a unique record of scoring seven consecutive fifties in the seven tests against New Zealand and West Indies that were won by England. Andrew Flintoff was named Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 2004.
In the next year, Fred injured himself in 2005, he fractured his knee, and his availability in the Ashes 2005 was ambiguous.
He practiced and fitted himself securing a place in the team that proved later as career defining Ashes. The second Ashes test was his career-best; he scored 141 runs and took seven wickets in the test match allowing England to win it by two runs.
Andrew Flintoff was named a man of the match. In the third test match, he scored a century to help England win the match.
In the final match, Flintoff took quick wickets on the fourth day that helped England to draw the losing match and eventually to win the series.
After the series, Andrew Flintoff was awarded Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy and ICC Player of the Year Award. Flintoff was appointed an MBE in Buckingham Palace for his heroics in Ashes series.
In 2006, Flintoff was made captain for the tour to India as Markos Trescothick, and David Vaughan was unavailable due to injuries. The series was a success with new faces; Andrew Flintoff did well with bat and ball.
He amassed 11 wickets and four half-centuries and leveled the series 1-1. At the end of the series, he had to encounter another injury, this time it was an ankle injury just before the Ashes 2006-07.
Ashes and World Cup 2007
The Ashes 2006-07 in Australia was the worst experience for Flintoff as a captain. England couldn’t handle Australian pace and swing and lost the series 5-0. Worst-ever since World War 1. Flintoff was bad in both the departments, so was his team.
After returning from Australia, Freddie remained captain for the Common Wealth ODI series 2007. The result was similar; England lost 2-0 in the best of three finals against Australia.
In ICC World Cup 2007, Vaughan was back in the team as captain, Andrew Flintoff was made vice-captain. His stats were horrible for the whole tournament surrounded by controversies and bad form. England lost the first match against New Zealand.
Before the next game, most of the English players along with Flintoff were seen late night at a bar two days before the match against Canada. The pedalo incident happened before the samegame.
It was reported in media that Flintoff fell of pedalo when he was drunk. Andrew Flintoff was stripped of vice-captaincy and fined, suspended for the next match. After the World Cup, Andrew apologized for his actions on TV.
Injuries and Retirement
After the World Cup, Freddie Flintoff never recovered from the injuries altogether. Flintoff was ruled out of the next couple of series in 2007. He underwent four surgeries before making it to the squad in 2008.
In a test series against South Africa, his batting and bowling form was seen in good shape. In the ODI series, Flintoff finally won the man of the series award for the all-round show.
In 2009, Andrew Flintoff contested in the second edition of Indian Premier League as the highest-ever paid a player in the history of IPL. He was bought for $1.5 Million.
Before Ashes 2009, Andrew Flintoff was back on the English turf fighting back from injuries playing for his county Lancashire. He was superb in the whole season; he took wickets and made a century in the season.
In Ashes 2009, Flintoff made it to Lords’ honors board by taking a five-wicket haul in the second inning of the second test that was won by England.
England won the series 2-1. Flintoff retired from Test Cricket after the Ashes. Later in September 2010, Flintoff retired from all forms of international cricket.
Andrew Flint off Stats & Records
There are several records held by Andrew Flintoff, few of them are defined here:
- Andrew Flintoff is the third-highest wicket taker for England in ODIs.
- Flintoff is one of the eight players to register their name on the Lords’ honors board for both bowling and batting figures.
- Freddie Flintoff is one of the seven cricketers to bat on all the five days in a Test It was a game against India where he achieved the feat.
- He is on the top of the list of hitting the most number of sixes by an English batsman. He surpassed Ian Botham in a match against India where he batted for five days.
- Flintoff is the ninth-highest run-scorer for England in One Day Internationals.
- In 79 test matches he played, Flintoff scored 3,845 runs with a batting average of 31.78 with five centuries and 26 fifties.
- In 79 test matches, Flintoff had a bowling average of 32.80 and took 226 wickets having three 5-wicket hauls.
- In 141 ODIs, Andrew Flintoff took 168 wickets with a bowling average of 24.38 along with two 5-wicket hauls. Fred scored 3394 runs at an average of 32 in ODIs.
- For Lancashire: Andrew Flintoff summed up 6641 runs in 282 matches with a batting average of 29.78. His best figures in bowling were 6 for 34.
Andrew Flintoff Family and Personal Life
Andrew Flintoff married his girlfriend Rachael Wools in 2005 in London. Andrew Flintoff wife is a famous and beautiful British model. She started modeling since she was 13.
Their first child was born before the marriage. The second child was born when Freddie was leading England in an away series against India.
Their first child was a daughter; Holly was born on September 2004. The first son Corey was born on 9th March 2006 and the third child, a boy named Rocky was born on 7thApril 2008.
Flintoff belonged to a cricket enthusiast background, his father Colin Flintoff played for local clubs and is still playing cricket for Whittingham Club. Freddie’s brother Chris is also a cricketer.
Professional Boxing Career
After back to back injuries and hope lost to become fully fit in cricket, Flintoff decided to try it in professional boxing. He was successful in his first and probably last professional bout in 2012. He defeated American Boxer Richard Dawson in Manchester Arena by points.
Trophies and Awards
ICC ODI Player of the Year award was won by Andrew Flintoff in 2004 along with Wisden Cricketer of the year Award. In 2005, Freddie won ICC Player of the year award and PCA Player of the year award. Flintoff was also included in ICC World One Day XI for three years in a row. In the year 2005, he won Compton Miller award, Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy, and BBC Sports Personality of the Year. Andrew Flintoff won Freedom of the city of Preston in 2006.
Flintoff on TV
Flintoff spent most his post-retirement period developing his Clothing brand and appearing on TV shows. In 2010, he was a member of SKY 1 program “A League of their Own.”. He also appeared as a commentator in international and domestic matches.
Flintoff hosts a radio program on BBC Radio Five every Monday. Jamaco, a leading men’s apparel brand nominated Andrew Flintoff as their brand ambassador in 2011.
His love of media persuaded to film a documentary named “Freddie Flintoff” in his personal life. Flintoff was a winner or “King of the Jungle” in the Australian series, “I am Celebrity, get me out of here!”.
Autobiography of Andrew Flintoff
Flintoff released around fivememoirs written in his cricketing career and his personal life afterwardandpublished all of them by himself. Being Freddie, Andrew Flintoff, and Ashes to Ashes were best-selling among them.
