Freddie Flintoff: Cricket saved me after Top Gear crash
Andrew 'Freddie' Flintoff has relished his return to cricket over recent years.
Andrew 'Freddie' Flintoff thinks cricket "saved" him after his 'Top Gear' crash.
The 47-year-old TV star was badly injured while shooting an episode of 'Top Gear' in late 2022 - but Freddie has returned to his sporting roots over the last two years, and he's now "loving" the challenge of coaching.
Speaking to Martin Bayfield at a question-and-answer session, Freddie shared: "The common theme through my life is obviously my family - parents, brother, grandparents, [his wife] Rachael, the kids - but then it seems almost everything comes back to cricket.
"That's been the one constant thread through my life. It's probably the one thing, like Rachel again said, probably saved me. I've been welcomed back into that fold and I'm loving it. I've got the opportunity now to coach.
"Who would have thought a 31-year-old me would be put in charge of kids, the next-best England players? And I absolutely love it."
Freddie's return to sport has helped him to cope with the devastating impact of his 'Top Gear' crash.
The former England captain - who became a team captain on 'A League of Their Own' after he retired from cricket - explained: "For everything that's happened, I think sport has been the one thing that's given me the coping mechanisms to get through pretty much anything, because some of the lows in cricket were so low, and you have to come back. It was resilience, it was passion, surrounded by people you love and people you trust.
"It was probably one of the most important things in my life after my family and my friends."
Freddie recently confessed that he struggled with "crippling anxiety" in the wake of the 'Top Gear' crash.
The TV star revealed that he "didn't leave the house for probably six or eight months" after the crash.
During an appearance on 'The Jonathan Ross Show', Freddie shared: "Afterwards, obviously there's the physical scars that I've got. But then the mental side of it.
"I didn't leave the house for probably six or eight months. The only times I was leaving the house was for medical appointments and surgeries."
