Andrew Flintoff says he played for England while drunk, also got a Test century
Former England cricketer Andrew Flintoff has admitted that he played Test cricket for his nation while being under the influence of alcohol. The former Three Lions all-rounder not only played international cricket while being drunk also revealed that he scored a Test hundred while drunk.
I was drunk when I ended up getting my second test century
The flamboyant cricketer retired from international cricket in 2009 and since then lives an adventurous life. He hosted an adventure-travel reality earlier before moving into professional boxing. During his cricket playing days, Flintoff was often criticised for his behavior in the field, he had a tendency to pick up fights with opposition players which most of the time resulted in England’s downfall. Who can forget Yuvraj’s six sixes in an over?
However, his ability as a cricketer was never doubted by anyone, once he was the best all-rounder in the game.
Speaking on tonight's Jonathan Ross Show on ITV, the flamboyant personality was asked if he had ever gone on to a pitch drunk which he replied with a joke and said, “I think the question is, was I ever sober?”
Commenting on the question, the 38-year-old recalled a test against South Africa where he scored his second test hundred and said, “I played a Test match against South Africa and we were getting beat... I was next in to bat the next morning so I had one in the bar... then we had two or three. It was Stella, the strong stuff, and the captain said, 'Get to bed'.”
Look, mate, I'll get you 100 tomorrow
He added, “He started to have a go at me. I said, 'Look, mate, I'll get you 100 tomorrow.' I went out to bat, I was stinking but the pressure was on and I ended up getting my second 100 in Test cricket. There were so many times it didn't come off.”
His comments on the show have caused a big controversy in the cricketing world as according to ICC rules a cricketer cannot play while under the influence of alcohol. But the social media is taking this a sense of humour.
Flintoff had played 79 Test matches and 141 ODI matches for the Three Lions, scoring 3845 and 3394 runs respectively. He also picked up 226 Test wickets and 169 ODI wickets for England.