Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff has been pictured on his final day with the England cricket team after working with the group as an unpaid mentor for their New Zealand and Ireland ODI series following his car crash last year.
The former Ashes hero began working with England earlier this month as he continues recovering from the horror smash while working as a presenter for BBC series Top Gear last December.
Flintoff was left with severe facial injuries and several broken ribs after Flintoff’s three-wheeled open-top car, which did not have air bags, flipped over, leaving him to wait an ‘agonising’ 45 minutes for an air ambulance. The BBC later gave him an apology.
He has slowly made his way back to public life and was secretly taken to Ashes matches this year – thanks to England’s managing director Rob Key – before being asked to get involved with mentoring the team ahead of the upcoming ODI World Cup, which is set to take place in India from October.
First, Flintoff had been working with the group ahead of the ODI series against both New Zealand and Ireland, with his involvement hailed by coach Marcus Trescothick – who claimed he had ‘sprinkled gold dust’ on players.
Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff was seen working with the England side on his last day with the group as he continues to recover from a horror car crash
He worked with England players for their ODI series against New Zealand and Ireland
And on his final day with England, Flintoff looked in great spirits as he put players through some bowling and batting drills, before being seen chatting to a few of them and offering pearls of wisdom.
Flintoff’s influence has been so well received that coach Marcus Trescothick was left raving about his presence.
‘I think he was a little bit nervous coming into the environment,’ said Trescothick ahead of the final international of the season.
‘He didn’t know many of the people here so he’s grown massively from when he first came in. He’s back to being the person you expect him to be around cricket, the person I’ve seen for so many years. That’s been great, really good.
The TV presenter suffered in a near-fatal crash while filming the BBC’s motoring show Top Gear in December that required four hours of surgery
England coach Marcus Trescothick (left) has hailed the influence of Flintoff on the team
‘Seeing him grow back into Freddie has been great. He’s been away from cricket for a long time but this is where it all started for him and where he belongs. The guys have really taken to him and we’re all hoping we see him again.
‘A couple of times he’s spoken in the changing room and it’s been like ‘wow’. The way he talks and delivers messages to players has been superb. To have him sprinkling a bit of gold-dust around the team and having the younger players working with him has been invaluable. You can’t put a price on it.’
There have been calls for Flintoff to return to the England set up, which could come as soon as December for the white-ball tour to the Caribbean.
As he walked around during the net session in Bristol, he was still seen with facial scars, which extend from the bridge of his nose to the right-hand side of his top lip, while the second beneath his lower lip are visible. However, they have shown signs of healing as his recovery continues.
Flintoff’s facial scars have shown signs of healing following the accident that saw his open-top car flip before waiting 45 minutes for an air ambulance
Those injuries were so severe that he was said to have been still covering them up as recently as last month, according to former England team-mate Steve Harmison.
‘It’s been tough, you’ve seen the pictures of him with a smile on his face but I saw him about six weeks ago when my son Charlie and his son, Rocky played against each other and it was great to see him.
‘I got to see him then but at that time he covered his face up when he walked around – believe it or not, he was training a guide dog which I’m sure is going better now than it was because he tripped over around three times on his way around the field!
‘He was on great form, but to see him around the England group, the main team, was fantastic. Freddie was always brilliant in the dressing room and so to have Andrew in the dressing room with them and feeling comfortable and letting him get his feet under the table because they’ll be in for a show.’
