Flintoff heads into boxing ring

Updated September 06, 2012 10:13:51

Andrew Flintoff has announced his intention to have his first professional boxing contest in November.

The former England captain and 2005 Ashes hero has eyed November 30 in Manchester for his debut, the same date former two-weight world champion Ricky Hatton is expected to make his return to action after three years out of the ring.

Former world champion Barry McGuigan and son Shane have been helping Flintoff in his preparations for his conversion to the sport at the age of 34, which is being filmed for a television documentary.

"This is an amazing opportunity to try a sport that I love, to be tutored by a man I respect and admire and, at the age of 34, the chance to become a professional sportsman again," Flintoff told the Daily Mail.

"It's a huge challenge - probably the biggest I have ever undertaken, especially in such a short time-frame.

"I have a long road ahead and a lot of work in front of me. The stakes are high."

The British Boxing Board of Control says it is yet to receive an application from Flintoff for a boxing licence.

Flintoff retired from international cricket in 2009 due to persistent knee and ankle problems, after helping England regain the Ashes which were lost 5-0 under his stewardship in the 2006-07 series.

Tags: sport, boxing, cricket, england

First posted September 06, 2012 10:13:51

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Flintoff lets fly at Atherton in foul-mouth rage

Updated June 22, 2012 08:09:45

Former England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff has launched a foul-mouthed attack on Michael Atherton, his former Lancashire and England team-mate who now works as a cricket pundit.

Flintoff, speaking to the London Evening Standard at a Sky TV party earlier this week, criticised Atherton's work as a Sky commentator and cricket correspondent for The Times newspaper.

"He's a prick," said Flintoff of fellow former England captain Atherton.

"He's a f...ing prick. He sits there making judgments about players that are much better than he ever was, believe me, he's a prick."

Flintoff added: "How can he talk about a player like Alastair Cook who is 10 times the player he ever was? He has a much bigger average and will go on and on. Atherton averaged in the 30s for England and yet he thinks he can judge others."

Asked if he wanted his comments taken as 'off the record', Flintoff replied: "I don't care. Say what you like. There's no love lost there."

When opening batsman Cook was made England's one-day captain last year Atherton, himself a former opener, described the left-hander as a "plodder" with the bat and a "donkey" in the field.

Wednesday morning (AEST) saw Cook score his fifth century in 47 one-day internationals and third in six matches, after he had effected a dynamic run-out in the field, as England beat West Indies by eight wickets at The Oval to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in a three-match series

Atherton, who has modified his comments regarding Cook since his now infamous "plodder" and "donkey" remark, by contrast managed just two centuries in his 54 one-day internationals.

Cook, still only 27, also has a superior Test record with 19 hundreds in 80 matches at an average of nearly 49, compared to Atherton's 16 centuries in 115 Tests at nearly 38.

Atherton's relationship with Flintoff is said to have become strained when in 2006 he wrote: "The only positive benefit of the injury to Flintoff may be the end of his immediate captaincy ambitions."

Under Flintoff's captaincy, England suffered a 5-0 Ashes thrashing during their 2006/07 tour of Australia.

AFP

Tags: cricket, sport, england, united-kingdom

First posted June 22, 2012 08:09:45

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Flintoff reveals depression struggles

Updated January 02, 2012 09:52:30

Andrew Flintoff has spoken of the emotional anguish he experienced leading England during their Ashes thrashing in Australia five years ago and how he wanted to retire at the subsequent World Cup.

The former all-rounder talks about his personal struggles and those of other leading sportsmen, including some of his team-mates, in a BBC program entitled 'Freddie Flintoff: Hidden Side Of Sport,' due to be broadcast a week on January 11.

Flintoff was England's captain when they were whitewashed 5-0 by hosts Australia in the 2006/07 Ashes, a series where they surrendered their grip on the urn before Christmas.

"I was having a quiet drink with my dad Colin on Christmas Eve 2006 and as we made our way home I started crying my eyes out," Flintoff said, in an extract from the program quoted on the Daily Mail website on Sunday.

"I told him I'd tried my best but that I couldn't do it any more, I couldn't keep playing. We talked and, of course, I dusted myself down and carried on.

"But I was never the same player again," added Flintoff, who in 2009 retired from Test cricket with a batting average of 31 and bowling mark of 32 - figures many pundits felt failed to reflect his immense natural talent.

"I was captain of England and financially successful. Yet instead of walking out confidently to face Australia in one of the world's biggest sporting events, I didn't want to get out of bed, never mind face people."

It later emerged Flintoff had been drinking so heavily at one point in Australia he was ordered away from a practice session by then England coach Duncan Fletcher.

Further alcohol-related problems for the now 34-year-old Flintoff ensued at the World Cup in the Caribbean where he took a drunken pedalo trip near England's hotel in St Lucia.

It was an incident that cost Flintoff, then deputy to fit-again skipper Michael Vaughan, the England vice-captaincy.

"The whole time I was on the field and throughout that World Cup all I could think about was that I wanted to retire," Flintoff said.

"I didn't understand what was happening to me. I knew when I got back to my room I couldn't shut off, which is why I started having a drink. It got to the stage where I was probably drinking more than I should.

"All I wanted was for the doctor to tell me what was wrong but no-one suggested it was depression," added Flintoff, a key figure in England's home 2005 and 2009 Ashes triumphs.

Fast bowler Stephen Harmison, a close friend of Flintoff, who at one stage in his career admitted to struggling with 'homesickness', said in the program he too had suffered from depression.

"At one point I was the number one bowler in the world - yet I was struggling inside," explained Harmison who, recalling a worrying moment during a tour of South Africa, added: "I couldn't breathe and I was hyperventilating."

Former England batsman Marcus Trescothick's international career was ended by a stress-related illness that made it all but impossible for the opener to tour even though he continues to play for Somerset.

And last year Sussex spinner Michael Yardy cited depression when he withdrew from the World Cup in the sub-continent days before England's quarter-final loss to co-hosts Sri Lanka, although he too has since resumed his county career.

AFP

Tags: sport, cricket, depression, england, united-kingdom

First posted January 02, 2012 07:45:13

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