“When I’m around cricket, I forget about everything else.

” Flintoff has a lot to forget, not least the traumatic after-effects of the crash he had while filming for the BBC back in December 2022.

The documentary is the first time he has spoken publicly about the devastating accident which left him with significant facial injuries, requiring extensive surgery.

The crash not only brought physical injuries but also brought to the surface issues he had been struggling with for years.

“I’d not left the house for seven months,” he tells Kyle Hogg, his old Lancashire teammate and fellow coach for this series, making plain his fears about heading off to India on a filming trip.

“When I did, it was in a facemask and glasses.

I worry I’ll not be able to cope.

” For many who have followed Andrew Flintoff’s career, the very idea of him being unable to cope seems absurd.

This, after all, was a sportsman who seemed to exude self-confidence, one immune to fear, even as he battered down every hurdle that confronted him.

When he bowled with terrifying venom for England, he would mark taking yet another wicket by standing straight-faced, with his arms spread wide, nodding in self-reference even as his teammates ran to celebrate their savior getting them out of a hole once more.