Andrew Flintoff - England

Andrew Flintoff born on December 6th, 1977 in Preston, Lancashire is an outstanding English cricketer. Flintoff is a right-arm fast bowler and an aggressive right-handed batsman and is considered an all-rounder. Andrew Flintoff was knighted the Order of the British Empire and received his MBE in 2006. He was also named the Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 2004 and won Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World in 2006. Andrew Flintoff is the son of cricketer Colin Flintoff. Interestingly, Andrew Flintoff is nicknamed after the fictional character, 'Fred Flintstone' of the popular television animated series, 'The Flintstones'. He is fondly called "Freddie" or "Fred". Andrew Flintoff made his Test debut on July 23rd, 1998 against South Africa at Nottingham and made his ODI debut on April 21st, 1999 against Pakistan at Sharjah. He is a hard hitter of the ball and exploits his colossal 6' 4" frame to bowl at 90mph plus. In 2002, Andrew Flintoff scored his maiden Test century against New Zealand at Christchurch and went on to score two more centuries consecutively, one in 2003 against South Africa at Lords and another at Antigua against West Indies in 2004. He also took five wickets at Barbados Test against West Indies. Playing in 2nd Test at Edgbaston in 2005 August, Flintoff broke Ian Botham's 1981 record haul of six 6s in an Ashes Test by scoring five 6s in 1st innings and 4 in 2nd innings. Throughout the 2005 Ashes Series, Flintoff maintained his excellent form and was a natural choice for the "Man of the Series Award". In December 2005, Flintoff won the 'BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award' and thus became the only cricketer to win he award since Ian Botham in 1981. In 2006, Andrew Flintoff donned the captaincy for England. Leading his side against India from the front he played magnificently on Indian soil and grabbed 11 wickets and scored four fifties in six innings and finally drew the 2006 Test series with India. Despite his ankle problem aggravating, Flintoff played the 2006 ICC champions Trophy as a specialist batsman. Andrew Flintoff married Rachael Wools on March 5th, 2005. They together they have a daughter named Holly [born September 2004] and a son named Corey [born March 2006]. Their third child is due to arrive in April of 2008.