Andrew Flintoff - The Book of Fred: The Most Outrageously Entertaining Book of the Year

First published in the UK by Blink Publishing

An imprint of Bonnier Books UK

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Hardback 978-1-788-704-88-5

Trade Paperback 978-1-788-704-89-2

Ebook 978-1-788-704-90-8

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Copyright Andrew Flintoff, 2021

Lyrics on page 4 Gerry Cinnamon

Andrew Flintoff has asserted his moral right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Every reasonable effort has been made to trace copyright holders of material reproduced in this book, but if any have been inadvertently overlooked the publishers would be glad to hear from them.

Blink Publishing is an imprint of Bonnier Books UK

www.bonnierbooks.co.uk

To Grandpa

I ve been listening to a lot of Gerry Cinnamon over the last 18 months. If you dont know who Gerry is, you should check him out. Hes this mysterious Glaswegian singer/songwriter. You hardly hear him doing interviews or pushing himself like a lot of musicians or bands tend to do, but hes generated this incredibly devout following up and down the UK.

Ive been watching footage of his gigs and his fans go absolutely nuts when hes onstage. YouTube is awash with mad clips of punters climbing whatever they can scale, hoisting themselves higher than the rest of the throng while at the same time singing every single word back to him at the tops of their lungs and generally just losing it completely. Every time I see them, I cant help thinking I want to be right in the middle of it, part of that crazy choir, getting stuck right in.

Theres one particular track I play all the time at home, called Canter; its huge. On a very simple level, I love the melody and its a song you can easily sing along to. But the lyrics are so special because they feel like a manifesto or a mission statement for people like me. Its optimistic and a great way to start the day, its almost a mantra: This is the beginning of the rest of your life/You better start graftin cause youre running out of time...

Thats how I start every day, thinking its the beginning of the rest of my life and I need to put a shift in. Though I do I feel a bit guilty that Ive got a one-year-old son dancing in a highchair listening to me singing: You know it could be a canter/If you were just a wee bit less of a wanker. Possibly some questionable parenting going on there but its fine, hes still oblivious.

Theres a line in Canter about it not being about playing the game, but about how much you care about playing the game how much it really matters to you. Ive mulled that one over a lot, in relation to my own life and my career in cricket too. Theres no question I cared about being a cricketer, but could I have cared even more? Could I have looked after my body better? If theres one thing I know its that there are no simple answers in life I am where I am now because of the way life played out. While Im not sure Im someone who believes everything happens for a reason, and Id never want to re-live the pain of the injuries or the disappointment of having to retire early, everything thats happened did get me to the place Im in right now.

Thats the thing about great songwriting its specific but its sort of universal too. It touches a nerve and makes you think about things in your own life. Im a married father of four who has played sport at elite level and I now find myself hosting one of the biggest shows on telly. On paper it might sound like Ive got a pretty decent handle on things and Ive found a lot of the answers but the truth is, like everyone, a lot of the time Im still trying to make sense of it all. On the other hand, Ive definitely not been a stranger to sticky situations over the years, but I feel like I have a perspective and life experience now that I definitely didnt have when I was younger!

What Im trying to say is that Im not one to tell anyone else how to live their life. What Ive done in these pages is take the chance to look back on some of the experiences Ive had and to ask myself what Ive learned along the way. Theres plenty that I wish Id known when I was younger, so maybe talking about some of it here will help you.

Ive come to realise that a lot of what makes me feel happy, or maybe its more like content, boils down to a sense of belonging and being part of something bigger. I always feel like I need to belong to something. I always wanted to be popular, but Im not sure Ive achieved any of these things, because I still dont know how to behave. There is something in me that wants to conform and be known and easily identified, but at the same time, I like solitude and just being at home with my family.

Its hard to retrace your steps and know exactly why you did what you did all the time but ultimately, the important thing is to know who you are and where youve come from. That reminds me of another of Gerrys songs, actually, an anthem called Diamonds in the Mud. Hes singing about the South Side of Glasgow, but for me, it could be about my hometown of Preston, as it really resonates with what I was feeling and experiencing where I grew up in Lancashire. The track is all about the mix of emotions associated with a place that still manages to bring a smile to your face when they pop up in your head particularly when you are feeling low. Its also about travelling far from home but nothing really compares to those familiar streets of your upbringing; its about the people who you might think are rough but are actually diamonds in the mud.

That lad Gerry, he really is a storyteller. His experiences have made him the poet, the writer, the musician he is. Every word hes committed to song comes from his experience growing up in Glasgow and that resonates with me. I really am obsessed. Thats the problem with me: when I lock on to something, Im done. Thats it Im completely hooked.

Its good to get into stuff, to really care about the things that mean something to you, but Ive definitely learned that life is about balance, that you need to look after all aspects your career, your family, your mates, your health. Work is important but youve got to make time for the people closest to you. That said, if you are dialling it in and spending your time concentrating on your golf swing or taking your partner away every third night, chances are youll find yourself in hot water at work.

Ive got a pretty simple approach to things and being laid-back, without a plan written down, has worked for me. With a bit of luck, Im somewhere around the halfway point of a good life on this planet. Ive had some amazing experiences and some pretty weird ones too, it has to be said. Youll struggle to find another book on the shelves dropping names like Jeremy Beadle in the same pages as former PM John Major. Ive ridden the highs of elite sport and felt the bump when Ive crashed back down to earth. Ive left a job I loved, changed careers and had to learn a whole new set of skills. Honestly, its sort of exhausting when I think about it, but my point is, Ive learned a lot. And not just from being a cricketer or being on TV. Just as many maybe more of my most important lessons have come from working in Preston Woolies or a man called Pete who lived on the edge of Old Traffords car park. Anyway, Ive written about it all here so you can judge for yourself.