Brisbane: Former England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff joined Brisbane Heat on a short-term deal in the Big Bash League (BBL) on Thursday, extending his surprise return to Twenty20 cricket.
Forced into retirement by a knee injury in 2009 after 79 Tests and 141 one-dayers, the 36-year-old made a shock return for Lancashire in the Twenty20 Blast earlier this year.
Flintoff, whose 2009 plans to play for Queensland were marred by injury, will arrive in December to reunite with his ex-Lancashire teammate, now Brisbane coach, Stuart Law.
“I’m excited to be coming back to Australia and especially to Brisbane, which has always been a favourite spot of mine to play,” Flintoff, who will play the back half of the BBL session, said in a statement from the BBL side.
“Stuart and I have had a few conversations and I’m clear on what we’re looking to achieve in the competition. The Heat squad has some exciting talent and I’m looking forward to catching up with [New Zealand spinner] Dan Vettori again,” he added.
Flintoff became Brisbane’s third international player for the 2014-15 season, along with Vettori and West Indies spinner Samuel Badree.
“I’ve told Fred we signed him to win games of cricket, so that means we want him bowling 140km/hr, hitting sixes and using his experience around the group to get the job done,” Law said.
“He’s an enormous competitor and so I know he is coming out for the right reasons. The Brisbane fans will quickly discover he’s a champion fella and I’m sure they will love having him with the team.”
