Flintoff: 'My mind will not accept I cannot play cricket anymore'

Andrew Flintoff says he dreams about playing cricket every night post-retirement, as his mind refuses to accept he is no longer a professional sportsperson.

The former England captain retired in 2010 - before a brief comeback in 2014/2015 - and reveals his coping strategies, including moving abroad at one point, have yet to stop his subconscious from yearning to play the game.

This tends to happen to cricketers more than any other sportsmen, and when they do retire it takes them a while to get used to the fact they can't play anymore. For some I'm not sure they ever get used to it.

Cricketers tend to start playing the game because they have a genuine love for the sport, and that's why it's harder for them to give it up. In other sports you get the impression that the players are only in it for the fame and fortune, and they can't wait to retire and do other things once they have made as much money as they can.

I don't know about that @pwarbi, as there are a lot of players in other sports that really love the sport and try to extend their career as long as possible even when they don't have the financial need.

But sure, it's hard to quit, but if he really loves the game that he does, I am sure he'll find a way to continue to work in cricket.

Maybe I was being a little harsh, but at the time I did watch the interview with Flintoff and he was genuinely sad at the prospect of never being able to play again. He's making a career form the sport as a commentator and a reporter on the games, but you couldn't help feel sorry for him.

Flintoff might not have been everyone's favourite cricketer or character on the field, but he did have that 'working class hero' kind of charm and I think he did make people especially over here in England look at cricket more fondly and show that if you're good enough then you can make a career out of playing cricket. He was as famous for getting drunk and being out of shape as what he was for what he did on the pitch, and there aren't many players now that people can relate to like that and especially in the England side.

Yeah, that's when we see which players really love the game. I've seen my share of professional athletes saying goodbye to the game, and some of them have true emotion in their eyes, and we can see it's hurting them to leave what has been their whole life. It's just how it goes!