15/07/2009 11:10 PM
England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff dropped a bombshell on the eve of the second Test by announcing his retirement from Test cricket following the end of this year's Ashes series.
His brittle body no longer able to withstand the rigours of the five-day game, Flintoff will focus on one-day and Twenty20 cricket in a bid to prolong his international career.
Flintoff made the announcement on Wednesday night as speculation swirled over his involvement in the second Test after pulling up sore with a knee complaint from the first Test in Cardiff.
He is relying on cortisone injections in order to be fit this week.
The all-rounder said the time was right for him to pull stumps on his Test career.
His decision did not come as a surprise to the England dressing room, which had suspected for some time of Flintoff's intentions, but was met with shock by the Australians.
Flintoff - who at 193cm tall places considerable strain on his body every time he bowls - has suffered a litany of injuries since making his Test debut as a 20-year-old in 1998.
He has injured his foot, back, hernia, groin, hip and side but it's the woes following his heroic contribution in the 2005 Ashes series which have hurt most.
Since that series, he has played in only 23 out of a possible 48 Tests for England, including nine in the past two years, undergone three operations on his troublesome left ankle and earlier this April went under the knife for a knee injury sustained in the IPL.
"My body is telling me things - I've actually started to listen now," Flintoff said.
"I can't keep playing games here and there, waiting to be fit, for my own sanity, for my family who have had to live with me through two years of rehab in the past four."
"I've had two years of rehab in the past four and now, after this series, I'll concentrate on one-dayers."
Flintoff, who harbours ambitions to play another two World Cups, said he played his best cricket during the Michael Vaughan era which began in 2003.
"I think the two or three years after that were the best cricket I've played. But I've missed two out of four years," he said.
"My career has been curtailed a bit by injury. But as a bowler, apart from the body, I think I am getting better and I can nearly bat again. So my best years might be in front of me, but not in this form of the game."
England captain Andrew Strauss said he had a feeling Flintoff was going to retire 'sooner rather than later' due to his awful recent run with injury.
He said Flintoff, the crowd favourite in his home country, had made a 'dramatic' impact on England cricket over the past few years.
"We're very, very hopeful that over the last four Test matches that he will go out in the style that befits a player of his quality, which means with a bang and big performances and hopefully with some good stories there to tell at the end as well," he said.
Australia captain Ricky Ponting said there were few more important players to a team than Flintoff was for England.
"But as far as someone that has an impact on the way a team plays and performs then he seems to be right up there," he said.
"Whenever he plays the game and you see the crowd getting involved, they love seeing him play and seeing him bat and seeing him bowl."