He made first-class debut at 16 for Lancashire.
Former England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff has recently recalled his "disastrous" first-class debut for Lancashire as he witnessed an embarrassing event featuring legendary Pakistan pacer Wasim Akram.
He was 16-years-old when he debuted for English county side and former cricketer David Lloyd, the now-famous commentator complimented him by saying he hadn’t seen a better slip fielder than Flintoff.
Earlier this week in a video on YouTube shared by the club on Twitter, Flintoff said that he had dropped three catches in the slip, which fumed his former county teammate Akram as the former captain had given him his infamous hairdryer treatment: “get him out of there!”
Flintoff said the event was highly embarrassing for him, as it was witnessed by other senior cricketers too – to which Akram responded by saying that his words were an act of "tough love" which 'raised' the 2005 Ashes hero so well while asking him to look back at his career.
Now on Tuesday, Flintoff replied to Akram’s comments, as former English star credited the Pakistan legend for shaping his career and life, saying that he would never be able to thank him enough for what he has done for him.
He said on Twitter: “And I’ll never be able to thank you enough for the impact you had on my career and life,”
Later, Wasim acknowledged the same and said being neighbors, Flintoff can invite him over for a barbecue when he is at his Manchester home next time. He tweeted: “Well seeing as we are now practically neighbors, a good way to start would be a ‘few’ BBQs at your house next time I’m in Manchester,”
Noteworthy, Flintoff represented England in 79 Test in which he notched 3,845 runs at an average of 31.77 and picked up 226 wickets while scored 3,394 runs and picked up 226 wickets in 141 ODIs.