Freddie takes first step in comeback

Former England allrounder and Ashes hero Andrew Flintoff has made a successful return to competitive cricket, picking up 3-26 in 12 steady overs for local side St Annes.

Flintoff, who took 226 wickets and scored 3,845 runs at an average of 31.77 for England at Test level, hasn’t played competitively in five years and was noticeably short on pace in his first hit-out back.

That point wasn’t lost on his first scalp either, with 18-year-old Greg Hall shrugging off the efforts of his more-fancied opposition.

“He was not too quick, he was alright,” Hall told the Daily Mail.

“When I found out Freddie was playing, I looked forward to facing him.

“He just pushed it through off the pitch, not as quick as we have all seen him bowl before but you’d expect that as he is just coming back.”

Flintoff snared Hall’s wicket caught behind, before taking a spectacular return catch off a full-blooded drive from Penrith pro Paul Hindmarch.

“I was trying to practice bowling at the death, bowling yorkers and I missed the yorker a little bit,” Flintoff told The Guardian.

“I suppose instinct took in.”

His third wicket was far more straightforward, beating tail-ender Jack White all ends up to make a mess of his stumps.

The former Test allrounder, wasn’t as successful with the bat however, skying a simple catch to a fielder on the straight boundary.

“I am really happy with where my batting is at,” he said.

“I was telling myself, ‘just knock it around’ but I don’t think I am equipped for these bowlers.

“I just blocked it to long off.”

It is still unclear when Flintoff will make his debut for county T20 side Lancashire Lightning, the table-toppers set to take on Aaron Finch’s Yorkshire Vikings in the next round of the T20 Blast.