[url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/england/9005165.stmI guess it was inevitable really[/url.

Right up there with Botham and McGrath as one of England's best all rounders in modern times, I just hope he doesn't go down the Hatton/Gazza route now he doesn't have the focus of playing, or trying to.

Shame that, but with the way he bowls any problems with his knees were always going to be difficult to overcome.

I get the feeling that from an England point of view the selectors have already moved on and I suspect Lancashire may have done the same expecting this day to come sooner rather than later.

Did you know he likes a few drinks? Hilarious!

Top, top player. As a bowler he was outstanding for England and never quite got the amount of wickets he deserved. He also played a huge part in our two recent Ashes wins.

Good luck to him.

Am I right in thinking that he vaguely follows Wigan (RLFC)? I know he's a Man City fan.

A brilliant bowler at times for England but never as good an all-rounder as some say. Figures and stat-wise you could very fairly argue that he fell a long-way short of greatness, in both spheres of the game. Batting average of 32ish and bowling average of 33 with just 5 centuries and 3x 5 wicket innings' are well short of true great all-rounders such as Sobers, Botham, Imran Khan and Kallis.

Absolutely no loss for Lancashire neither has he's hardly played 5 games for us over the past 5 years as it is.

Good luck to him though, he's made plenty of money and doesn't need to make any kind of playing comeback at all.

He's a Preston fan.

Good luck to him. Really good player. Nowhere near Beefy though. He was really good, but not a great.

IPL! IPL! IPL!

Agreed, his stats do not make him a great but that was largely due to his poor attitude early in his career, when he was only a mediocre all rounder at best. However the latter years propelled him into super stardom. He was arguably the most feared fast bowler on the planet when he was on his game and fit for a couple or three years. His presence and aura also made him something special.

Obviously he will be remembered for the greatest Ashes series of them all, and he certainly was Michael Vaughan's 'go to' man and Australia could not handle him. With that in mind, for my mind he does go down as a great and it's a real shame he was not in his prime for long enough



His stats could've been so much better.

He has been at Saints twice from memory. He was on the big screen.

I would like to see Freddies batting and bowling averages under Vaughan's Captaincy. I bet there is a massive difference to the ones he finished with.

I'm not so sure. He dominated Australia in a couple of victorious Ashes series. I'm not sure Botham can claim that. Old cricket was rubbish too, they ran funny, had weird hair and the game was an amateur sport (As in no full time training). Botham would have had a pint and a fag before he went out.

Ok, his stats don't compare with Botham's, or several other 'great' all-rounders, but some of his performances certainly do.

The Botham comparison is actually a lot closer than some would have you believe...Botham acheived his Ashes glory in '81 against a p!sspoor Aussie side. Lillie and Marsh were a long time over the hill, and the rest of their side was mediocre. Botham could never produce against the West Indies, who were the dominant side of Botham's era.

Flintoff, while his stats are very average, actually produced against a very strong Aussie side...Has ANY bowler ever made Hayden or Gilchrist look so bewildered during their Test careers, as Freddie did?

I seriously think that without Freddie last year, even though his performances were less sensational, we would not have regained the Ashes....His sheer presence was a massive psychological scar on the Aussies and it will be his abscence that will boost the Aussies the most this winter.

I seem to remember it being Hoggard that had Hayden over a barrel? Bowling on to his pads with a silly mid on?

Freddie was a legend as much for his off the field antics as on. Average career peppered with the occasional outstanding performance.

Agree that Hoggard was an excellent new ball bowler in that series, however when Hayden made it past him, Flintoff would inevitably snaffle him....Also, add Flintoff's 'over' at Edgbaston, where he bowled THE greatest over in Test history...FACT....that is why Freddie was special.

Can't believe it took a week for the fanboy reaction.

Quote ="Bang"He's a Preston fan. Good luck to him. Really good player. Nowhere near Beefy though. He was really good, but not a great.'" No, he's definitely a Blue: www.caughtoffside.com/2009/07/19 ... ried-away/

Quote ="Bang"He's a Preston fan. Good luck to him. Really good player. Nowhere near Beefy though. He was really good, but not a great.'" No, he's definitely a Blue: www.caughtoffside.com/2009/07/19 ... ried-away/

He definitely isn't.

'mind the windows, Tino'