Flintoff confirms comeback in T20 Blast

Former England captain Andrew Flintoff has come out of retirement to join Lancashire's squad for the English domestic Twenty20 competition.

Pace bowling all-rounder Flintoff, 36, was forced to retire in 2009 due to wear and tear in his ankles and knees but the shortest format will put minimum strain on his body.

However, the Preston-born Flintoff has been training again with his native Lancashire, the only county side he's ever represented, and is looking forward to making a comeback he once thought beyond him.

"I'm really honoured to be part of Lancashire once again," he said in a club statement issued on Friday.

"It is something that I never thought would happen but, after training with the squad over the last few months, I am really happy that they have invited me to play."

In an interview with BBC Radio Five, Flintoff said he was revelling in playing cricket again.

"When I'm in the nets, I'm in there with a bat in my hand just grinning," he explained.

"When I'm bowling it still hurts a bit, but I'm loving running into bowl and if I can take that into a game I might be quite dangerous."

Lancashire have yet to say in which match Flintoff will make his return as they bid to reach finals day at Edgbaston in August.

However, he wasn't in the side playing Birmingham Bears (Warwickshire) at Old Trafford on Friday, with Lancashire appearing to hold him back for their Twenty20 clash at home to arch-rivals Yorkshire a week later.

A powerful batsman, as well as an aggressive bowler and assured slip fielder, Flintoff played 79 Tests, 141 one-day internationals and seven Twenty20 internationals for England.

On the field, crowd favourite Flintoff's greatest all-round series came when he scored 402 runs at an average of just over 40 and took 24 wickets at under 28 apiece as England regained the Ashes 2-1 in 2005.

But in the subsequent Ashes Flintoff, miscast as England captain, led his country to a 5-0 series defeat in Australia in 2006/07.

His international career finished with a flourish when he ran out Australia captain Ricky Ponting in the fifth Test at The Oval in 2009, a match England won by 197 runs to regain the Ashes 2-1.

For Lancashire, for whom he made his debut as a 17-year-old, Flintoff scored 4,042 runs at 35.14 and took 92 wickets at 29.16 in 80 first-class matches.

In 16 county Twenty20 games he averaged 13.94 with the ball and 29.64 with the bat, with a highest score of 93 against Derbyshire in 2009.

The announcement of his comeback adds further fuel to the rumours that Flintoff will be making an appearance in the fourth edition of the KFC T20 Big Bash League this summer.

Brisbane Heat have been keeping a particularly close eye on the allrounder, with coach Stuart Law being a former team-mate of Flintoff’s for a number of years at Lancashire.

“Freddie turned himself into a professional heavyweight boxer when he was forced to retire with injury at a relatively young age, and won his only bout, so you don’t doubt his commitment to a cause if he puts his mind to it.

“And if he does get on the field, I am sure there will be a bit of the old magic there. I’ll be watching with plenty of interest.”