Former England captain Andrew Flintoff retires

Former England captain Andrew Flintoff made his decision to quit the cricket after speaking to medical advisers


Dubai: Andrew Flintoff calls it a day and England has lost one of their finest allrounders. It was Flintoff's performance in the 2005 Ashes series that gave England the much needed confidence to beat top teams in future tournaments.

The 32-year-old Lancashire allrounder, who played 79 tests for England, made his decision to quit the sport after speaking to medical advisers on Wednesday.

"Having been told that my body would no longer stand up to the rigors of cricket, I had no alternative but to retire," Flintoff said in a statement.

His last match was a test against Australia at The Oval in August 2009, when England won to regain the Ashes.

Freddie, as he was to many, may have gone on to break many records in world cricket had he not been bogged down by a nagging knee injury. Finally, he had to succumb to it only to call it a day.

For Flintoff, the UAE had a special place in his heart since it was from Sharjah that his international cricket career began.

During an exclusive interview to Gulf News, he had said: "Dubai is one city that I love the most. My wife and children too love this place and it is always our first option when we are looking for a break from our hectic schedule."

It was Dubai that Flintoff chose to be in to recuperate from his knee injury and he has been living here ever since with his children even schooling here. " The Sharjah stadium is special to me..... I stepped into international cricket from here," he added.

This star allrounder always got a hero's welcome in all his visits to the UAE. Cricketer fans throng him even at malls for his autograph and he has been seen patiently obliging everyone with a smile.

One of the biggest fan queues was seen when Magrudy's invited him to autograph his biography at their Festival City outlet.

Despite their hero getting in late by nearly two hours because of a traffic jam, they waited patiently just to get him to sign on their copy.

Flintoff was also the chief guest for the Dubai Cricket Council's Shyam Bhatia annual awards this year.

After presenting awards to the outstanding cricketers of the year, he said: "I am cricketer and want to play cricket. It is very frustrating that I am not able to do what I love to do due to my injury."

It will be with a heavy heart that he bids goodbye to cricket.