Preston legend Freddie Flintoff back in key role as Top Gear crash injuries continue to heal

Freddie Flintoff has returned to a key role with the England cricket team as preparations step up for the T20 World Cup.

The Preston legend had spent some time out of the public spotlight after a horrifying crash while filming BBC show Top Gear in December 2022. The 46-year-old sustained severe facial injuries and broken ribs after crashing an open-topped three-wheel Morgan Super 3 at 130mph. The England legend has rarely been seen at public events and not returned to TV work since.

England's managing director Rob Key is a close friend of Flintoff's and has facilitated his return to cricket, with the legendary all-rounder first linking up with the white-ball team as a coach back in September.

Flintoff has remained involved ever since and is set for his first head coach role this summer when he takes charge of the Northern Superchargers men's team in The Hundred. And with England now preparing for their T20 World Cup defence next month, Flintoff has been pictured at a nets session ahead of their four-match T20I series against Pakistan.

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He still has some facial scarring as a result of the injuries he suffered in the crash, but they appear to be healing well. Flintoff was also seen chatting with white-ball coach Matthew Mott and selector Luke Wright at Headingley, having thoroughly enjoyed getting back involved in the sport.

In some rare public comments following his appointment by the Superchargers, Flintoff said: "My time with the England Men's team has been a reminder of just how special cricket is to me, and I'm relishing the opportunity to be back amongst it, helping to guide the Superchargers team to success on the field while making memories off it and helping to take cricket to more people."

Another of Flintoff's close friends, fellow England legend Steve Harmison, told Mirror Sport that he had been "overwhelmed by the outpouring of love" he had received since getting involved as a coach.

"It's great to see him back," Harmison said. "He loved every minute of it. He was overwhelmed by the outpouring of love with everybody seeing him for the first time since that horrific accident."

"Andrew Flintoff has been a cricket man since he was 10-years-old. He's been brought up in it, his dad Colin and all his family were cricket, cricket, cricket. He was destined to play for England from the age of 12."

"He's always had cricket in his life, but unfortunately when he left somebody was going to pay him a lot more money to do things that he was even better at which was to entertain. Sometimes it takes a little bit of time away to come back to the thing you love the most and he enjoyed being with the England team."