I couldn’t get out of the room – Andrew Flintoff on his anxiety after accident
By PA Sport Staff
Andrew Flintoff has spoken about his mental health struggles following his life-changing car crash on the set of Top Gear in 2022.
In one of his first interviews since sustaining severe facial injuries in the accident, Flintoff told former England captain and The Times’ cricket correspondent Mike Atherton of his initial reluctance to return to public life.
The 47-year-old England all-rounder revealed it took him “10 goes to leave my bedroom” due to anxiety on his first morning as an England coach in 2023 and how he felt in awe of Ben Stokes when bumping into him in the hotel lift.
“That day in Cardiff (in September 2023), it took me 10 goes to leave my (hotel) bedroom. I couldn’t get out of the room.
“I was so anxious and worried. I eventually went down to breakfast; sat down and chatted with Reece Topley and then Jos (Buttler).
“I had to go back to my room to get my baseball mitt and ‘flicker’ and I was waiting for the lift again and heard footsteps. I knew it would be ‘Stokesy’.
“I didn’t really know him then. I’ve built a great relationship with him since, but I was anxious about that, standing in the lift with him.
“We were both stood there. He’s ‘Stokesy’ and I am supposed to be like that, I suppose, but I didn’t feel like that.
“In the dressing room, Joe Root came over, one of the best men you’ll ever meet, and everyone made me feel so welcome.
“Slowly but surely I started to find my feet. And sitting on the balcony and being pictured. Even the press were nice about me. It’s amazing what an accident can do.”
Flintoff retired as a player in 2010 aged 31 after playing in 79 Tests between 1998 and 2009 and stepped away from cricket to focus on his television career.
He revealed how old friend Rob Key, current England director of cricket, encouraged him back into the England fold in 2023.
Initially invited to help with England Under-19s, Flintoff was appointed as England Lions head coach in September 2024.