Andrew Flintoff announced his plans to retire from Test cricket on this day in 2009.
The England all-rounder, 31, was forced to accept defeat in his long-running battle against injuries, telling the PA news agency: “My body has told me it’s time to stop.”
The decision came during the 2009 Ashes series, with Flintoff setting his retirement date for the end of the summer.
The Lancashire star, man-of-the-series during England’s stunning 2005 Ashes success, made his announcement after struggling to overcome a succession of injuries during the previous four years.
In the first Ashes Test of 2009 in Cardiff, Flintoff suffered a recurrence of a right knee injury, which followed an operation earlier that year to cure a degenerative problem in the joint which flared up during his stint playing in the Indian Premier League.
I took that as my body telling me that I can't cope with the rigours of Test cricket.— Andrew Flintoff
That latest injury setback persuaded Flintoff that the time was right to end his Test career and concentrate on playing international cricket at one-day and Twenty20 level.
“My body has told me it’s time to stop,” he told PA.
“I’ve been through four ankle operations, I had knee surgery just a couple of months ago and had three jabs in my knee on Monday just to get me right for this Test so I took that as my body telling me that I can’t cope with the rigours of Test cricket.”
With England regaining the Ashes with a 2-1 series win, Flintoff closed the chapter on that stage of his career having featured in 78 Test matches for his country, scoring a total of 3795 runs and taking 219 wickets.
