Post by J180 on Jul 15, 2009 11:09:21 GMT 1
England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff has announced he will retire from Test cricket at the end of the current Ashes series against Australia.
The hero of England's victorious 2005 Ashes campaign has fought a constant battle against injuries and will now concentrate on one-day cricket.
Flintoff, 31, is currently fighting to be fit for the second Test at Lord's.
The Lancashire star is now struggling with a knee injury that flared up after the first Test draw in Cardiff.
Flintoff has so far played for his country 75 times in an 11-year Test career since his debut against South Africa in a famous England victory at Trent Bridge.
But undoubtedly his finest hours came in the 2-1 series success at home to Australia in 2005.
It was a summer which saw the best of Flintoff's cricketing ability, as well as his sportsmanship.
After a duck and then three in the first Test at Lord's, he made half-centuries in each innings and took seven wickets as England fought back thrillingly to win by just two runs and level the score at Edgbaston - where his hand-on-shoulder consolation for a beaten Brett Lee became perhaps the iconic image of the whole series.
Flintoff's maiden Ashes hundred helped bring a second home win in Nottingham, and there were more runs and wickets as England regained the urn in a fifth-Test draw at The Oval.
With 2005 captain Michael Vaughan out injured, Flintoff himself was to lead England in their ill-starred bid to retain the Ashes in 2006-07, a series that ended in a 5-0 whitewash.
He lost the vice-captaincy under Vaughan after his drunken late-night escapade in a pedalo at the start of a notably unsuccessful 2007 World Cup campaign in the Caribbean.
news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/8151402.stm
The hero of England's victorious 2005 Ashes campaign has fought a constant battle against injuries and will now concentrate on one-day cricket.
Flintoff, 31, is currently fighting to be fit for the second Test at Lord's.
The Lancashire star is now struggling with a knee injury that flared up after the first Test draw in Cardiff.
Flintoff has so far played for his country 75 times in an 11-year Test career since his debut against South Africa in a famous England victory at Trent Bridge.
But undoubtedly his finest hours came in the 2-1 series success at home to Australia in 2005.
It was a summer which saw the best of Flintoff's cricketing ability, as well as his sportsmanship.
After a duck and then three in the first Test at Lord's, he made half-centuries in each innings and took seven wickets as England fought back thrillingly to win by just two runs and level the score at Edgbaston - where his hand-on-shoulder consolation for a beaten Brett Lee became perhaps the iconic image of the whole series.
Flintoff's maiden Ashes hundred helped bring a second home win in Nottingham, and there were more runs and wickets as England regained the urn in a fifth-Test draw at The Oval.
With 2005 captain Michael Vaughan out injured, Flintoff himself was to lead England in their ill-starred bid to retain the Ashes in 2006-07, a series that ended in a 5-0 whitewash.
He lost the vice-captaincy under Vaughan after his drunken late-night escapade in a pedalo at the start of a notably unsuccessful 2007 World Cup campaign in the Caribbean.
news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/8151402.stm