Andrew Flintoff Quotations

We are pleased with the total and the fashion we got it. I think we've had a decent day.

We're in a position where it's possible to chase 350. It's not easy by any means, and it'll take a special performance by someone, but we've got the players to do it.

We bowled well as a unit which we have been doing for a period of time,

With nobody over 30 in the last Test, it is a young side but a very talented one. A lot of great things came out of that match and we outplayed India for the bulk of it. But the one thing we can't do now is get complacent just because we competed. As long as that doesn't happen and we stick to the basics I think we'll be fine.

There are four games left and we still have to believe we can get into the series. We always play with pride, there is a mountain to climb but the lads want to do it and so do I.

We need to peg Australia back and get a couple of quick wickets early on and take it from there.

Simply because he encourages you to enjoy cricket without fear of failure.

My feeling is Australia have their noses in front. Would we take a draw now? Probably!

Obviously we don't play together regularly so everyone is still trying to find out what others do and what is the best way to get them to perform.

One thing I'm sure is that I'm in control of my destiny now, It's something I'm not worried about.

I am just keeping Michael's job warm until he comes back. I have enjoyed captaining the side but Michael is our captain and I am looking forward to him captaining again.

I don't want to be back in those dark times again. So experiencing that makes this all the sweeter.

I enjoy hitting the ball and trying to bowl fast, and that is what I do.

I always seem to score runs here. I enjoy it. The ball comes on to the bat.

He wore his tracksuit on the first day and sometimes he would turn up in his whites and go home in them, just to get out of the place as quickly as possible. Even when we did try and make him feel at home by going out for dinner, he left early,

To compete you need a big score in the first innings and that means a hundred from one of our batsmen. In the last test we got starts, it will be nice if someone can go on and make a big 100 and get us past 400.

Hayden played well, ... He normally comes out and takes it on but he got his head down this time.

It (India's charge) was explosive. But we knew it would have required some effort from them to chase the total that we had set.

It is a good opportunity to play against Australia again in Australia and will hold all the same challenges,

It is something of a shock, to be honest. Both my family and myself are very proud to have won it and I am pleased the whole team have got one (an MBE) because throughout the Ashes there was somebody different contributing at different times.

I went up but there's a lot of noise out there and the crowd were loud, ... A few beers had gone down and they were quite vocal. I went up on what I heard.

It is an opportunity for a young side, opportunities arise for young players to show the character and strength of this England side.

That delivery would get me out nine times out of 10,

I think he's going to be a fine player,

I was really goosed after that last Test, so a break in France with family and friends has been just what I needed, ... But good as that was, our focus is now on Trent Bridge and the Aussies. After all, we're trying to win the Ashes and that's a massive prize.

We'll be playing for pride, there are three games to go and we've got to take something out of them.

We realized we underperformed with the bat, and the bowlers came to the party today,

Yeah, I went through the gears a bit today, and I've still got a little in me. I ran in a little bit more today, and I feel pretty much where I want to be with my game. You know its going to be hot, don't you? It was alright, though, and I feel good about the day. I've been inside twice today to get a bit of ice, which felt nice, believe me.

When I got out and I was sat up in the dressing-room I didn't know what to do with myself. I was really sick at one stage ... and I got quite emotional at the end when Ashley knocked the winning runs off. I never thought we'd lost it because the partnerships we needed were very small, but there's always that devil on your shoulder just chipping away at you. It was a massive release when we got over the line.

There are of course mornings when you wouldn't mind a lie in.

If you're batting and you go off on one it can't really help you.

If you go out to bat against Australia, they come at you hard.

Personally I prefer to work things out by feel, by instinct.

I'll take my iPod - though I'm not very good with gadgets to be honest - and that has everything I like.

I have a varied taste, I'll listen to anything. Well, not anything, no techno.

I always listen to music before I go out to bat. Any track, really, just whatever I feel like at the time.

It's a big part of my life, listening to music and watching TV.

I'm not too good with packing. I always have every intention of doing it the week before and then leave it until the last moment - but at least I do it myself, I don't leave it to the missus.

I'm not really superstitious - I don't have any lucky charms or a mascot.

If I'm playing well I'll get through a bat in three weeks. I batter them.

When I have a day off, I will have a day off.

Cricket is great, but I'm not as comfortable with everything else that goes with it.

My family is not a distraction. They're the most important thing in my life.

I've read a lot of Irvine Welsh - Trainspotting, Glue - he's written some beauties.

I'm comfortable in the way I play and comfortable in who I am.

While I'm at second slip I'm not just thinking of what I'm going to have for tea. I'm considering the match as well, wondering how I can help, if there is anything I can offer.

Captaincy is something you get better at through experience. You've got to trust your instincts.

I'm not someone who needs to bat and bat to be in form.

We have to take care of our own game. There's only one place we've got to stick up for ourselves and that's the pitch.

But there is no danger of my not concentrating on cricket. I'm comfortable on the pitch, and that will never change. I have to remember what I do for a living

I'm completely different from Pietersen. He would turn up to the opening of an envelope

When it comes to sledging, I think people often get the wrong view.

I'm ugly, I'm overweight, but I'm happy

In the past five weeks I've trained hard, trying to get my ankle back to where I want it to be

I'm not sure if I'm looking forward to facing Brett Lee again. He bowls at 95mph so enjoyment is not the word I would use.

Sure, you can do without the hard personal comments, but it doesn't really happen apart from a few isolated incidents.

It's far more daunting than bowling to Ricky Ponting or facing Shane Warne

There are times when I have felt the pressure, but at the moment I play cricket the only way I can.

That means I can drive a flock of sheep through the town centre, drink for free in no less than 64 pubs and get a lift home with the police when I become inebriated. What more could you want?

I can lose my temper from time to time, but I try not to lose it on the pitch because it can't help.

When you bowl at him you are not just trying to get him out, you are trying to impress him. "I want him to walk off thinking 'that Flintoff, he's all right isn't he?" I feel privileged to have played against him.

It's usually the funny comments which are the better ones - and they are good for the game.

I like to think I'm calm. Sometimes I have arrived at the ground in the morning in a bad mood - you're not always going to be in the best of moods are you? - but by the time you get into the ground and you have a brew then it's normally fine.

I'm not keen on making predictions.

Whatever was written in the media was beyond me. The only thing I could control was getting fit.

A lot of the lads have a bat for the nets, a bat for facing the bowling machine and a separate bat for the match. I'll just crack on with a bat until it breaks - then crack on with another one.

I'm not really someone who looks forward to the gym. But I realise it's something that I have to do to perform well on the pitch.

We've got to chase 170 and we can't just graft it - we've still got to play the way we play. We're a positive side and score runs in a positive manner. I don't think that will change.

We say hello to each other now and we are pleasant to each other, but it doesn't go any further than that,

There have been injuries, illnesses and that's not been ideal. But it's an opportunity for the team to show what we can do.

Every day I bowl I wonder how much longer it is going to last because I am never quite sure what is going to happen with my back,

every drop of sweat we have in our bodies will be left at The Oval.

They are all very happy over there, but I think it is a good thing, I think it will put us up on our toes a bit more.

Runs have been a bit sparse for me lately,

The one-day game is so structured and you have your own roles back in your country, and a few players had to play outside those roles, whereas in Test cricket you just go out there and play, so there is no real structures to the game so hopefully we will be a better Test side.

It's a tough tour. We had a taste of the sub-continent before Christmas and going to India now, they are a formidable side, we know it's going to be hard, but for the past few weeks we've trained hard and I'm looking forward to going.

It's Michael's team, I just need do carry that on for a brief time.

It's hard to take in that it is our lad who is giving it to Australia.

It's been a great series, ... To be honest, David, I'm struggling. It's been a roller-coaster. We played against a great Australian side who are full of world-class performers, but every time a performance was needed one of us stood up and delivered it.

It's been an unbelievable day and I can't find the words to describe how KP played. It's one of the great innings. But then we've all performed. The strength of this side is that different people have stuck their hands up at different times during the series.

It's important tomorrow to come out with the same intent we ended today, perhaps more,

It was a good wicket. Once you got set and used to the pace, you could really score runs as Paul Collingwood and Geraint Jones showed in the England innings.

It (the pitch) should offer more bounce, more pace and we have a decent chance to take the lead.

At the end of this summer it's going to be great going to Australia and sharing a dressing room with some of the best players in the world,

The lads are desperate to win. It is a mountain to climb now but they want to do it and so do I.

I'm going to be like a kid in a sweet shop. I'll be taking my autograph book and I won't quite know where to put myself. It's great when I think back two years because I was still trying to play for England never mind even being thought about for a World XI side

I'm looking forward to it, I'm proud that I'll walk out first and lead my country in a test match.

I'll be taking my autograph book and I won't quite know where to put myself,

In my second year I recommended him as county captain. The committee almost had a fit. They were too shortsighted to see it in Freddie - even then, he was a leader in the dressing room.

I think 275 would have been a par score.