Ashes hero Freddie Flintoff reveals he would like to coach England or Lancashire further down the line as he admits he has ‘started loving cricket more’ since he retired
- Freddie Flintoff retired from Test cricket at the end of the 2009 Ashes series
- He won the 2005 and 2009 Ashes, being named player of series in the former
- The former England all-rounder served as captain and vice-captain of the team
- Now, Flintoff has admitted he would like to try his hand at coaching down the line
- Flintoff was speaking on The Graham Norton Show alongside Arsene Wenger
Freddie Flintoff has admitted he would love to try his hand at coaching down the line, revealing he would only work with England or his former county Lancashire.
The England all-rounder initially retired from all forms of the game in 2010 after stepping down from Test cricket just a year earlier, winning two Ashes series – including being named player of the series in the historic 2005 victory.
And now years on from his retirement, Flintoff – who was speaking about his new book ‘Right, Said Fred’ on The Graham Norton Show, which will run at 10:45pm on Friday night – has revealed he would like to become a coach in future years but admits he has ‘clawing back to do’.
Freddie Flintoff was speaking on The Graham Norton Show, which will be aired on Friday night
Flintoff said: ‘I never thought I would say this, but since I’ve retired, I’ve actually started loving cricket more than I ever did, and further down the line I would like to coach.
‘There would only be two teams to coach – Lancashire or England – but I have lots of clawing back to do before I am even considered!’
After announcing his decision to quit cricket in 2010, Flintoff came out of retirement briefly in 2014 for Lancashire Lightning’s T20 Blast campaign.
Flintoff was a host on The Graham Norton Show alongside legendary Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, Samuel L. Jackson, Latanya Richardson and Dawn French.
England all-rounder Flintoff won two Ashes series over arch enemies Australia in 2005 & 2009
The 42-year-old, who captained England during their Ashes series whitewash defeat against Australia in 2006-07, also admitted to being ‘selfish’ during the peak of his career when asked about the sport dominating his life.
Flintoff added: ‘In sport you need to be selfish but I was selfish as a person – when we won I’d go out with the lads and celebrate, but when I lost, the family would get it when I would go home and sulk.
I wouldn’t speak and it would do me in for days and days.
‘Looking back on my career all the games that stand out are the losses – I could tell you how I got out, but never how many runs I scored.’
Flintoff pictured playing for Lancashire during T20 Blast match against Worcestershire in 2014
Since retiring from cricket, Flintoff has taken up a career in media, starring on TV shows including A League of Their Own, while also hosting a podcast on BBC Radio 5 Live called ‘Flintoff, Savage & The Ping Pong Guy’ in which many hot sporting topics are discussed.
And in 2019, Flintoff – who has also done commentary work for Sky Sports covering the T20 blast – became a host of Top Gear alongside Paddy McGuinness and Chris Harris.
The former England star also tried his hand at boxing after retiring from cricket. In his one professional heavyweight fight in November 2012, Flintoff beat American Richard Dawson on a points decision.
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