On this day in 2009: Andrew Flintoff calls time on Test career
England all-rounder announced his impending retirement during the Ashes series
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.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.
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.