Andrew Flintoff has undergone major surgery to straighten his left leg, so he can be fit enough to play football with his kids.
“I basically had my leg completely straightened,” Flintoff tells the April issue of The Wisden Cricketer magazine. “After the 2009 {Ashes} series my knee was in bits, so I had the micro-fracture done the day after the Oval Test match but it was pretty clear I wasn’t getting any better. I was getting on with the rehab but I was kidding myself that I was getting better.
Andrew Flintoff. Photo by Shiek Mohamed
“My whole left leg had started to bow and I needed this latest operation to try and make sure I can lead some kind of normal life. To straighten the leg they had to break my tibia, take a piece of bone out of my hip and put that in the knee and then screw a titanium pin through from the knee into the top of my shin.”
Flintoff says he wants to lead a pain-free life after 13 operations during an injury ravaged career: “I want to be able to play football with my kids or, if I wanted to play a game of club cricket with my brother, I could do it. More than that, I just don’t want to walk in pain. Before the operation every time I put my foot down it was just bone on bone and it was getting seriously painful. I had the operation done for my quality of life.”
The all-rounder has spent a total of three years on crutches during recovery from a succession of serious knee and foot injuries.
Despite the pain and the physical damage, Flintoff has no regrets about pushing his battered knee to play through the 2009 Ashes: “I’d never swap winning the Ashes but that 2009 series finished my career. I played through four Tests and the damage I did then has resulted in how I am now. I certainly never thought I’d play my last game of cricket aged 31.I had so many injections and pain killers in my knee just to get through that series. I’m glad I did but obviously it has cost me,” he tells the magazine.
And he admits it has been difficult to find motivation without the prospect of ever playing cricket again: “I’m not going to lie, I have found it incredibly tough. It’s really hard to motivate yourself knowing that at the end of it you’re still not going to get a chance to play for England again.
“I’ve found myself getting quite down a couple of times in recent weeks, which is not like me at all. I’m just looking forward to getting off my crutches, being able to drive again and hopefully cranking up the rehab. It’s not been an easy time, though.”
The April issue of The Wisden Cricketer, on sale from Friday 18 March, features Jonathan Agnew and Mark Nicholas at the World Cup, a full preview of the English County season and a free summer fixtures wallchart.
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