His earliest sporting memory was watching his father Colin a plumber play cricket at the Dutton Forshaw

His earliest sporting memory was watching his father, Colin, a plumber, play cricket at the Dutton Forshaw club in Preston. His older brother, Chris, also plays and his mother, Sue, is a keen follower of the game.From the age of nine, when he scored a century for Lancashire’s under-11 team, he played representative cricket at age-group levels. He supports Preston North End (with a soft spot for Liverpool) and played football for Preston schoolboys. He’s a very normal, rounded human being.”Yet any impression of a carefree sportsman who performs without nerves would be misleading.

Flintoff put his poor display at Lord’s down to self-inflicted pressure and was nearly sick in the dressing room at Trent Bridge last Sunday after losing his wicket.In the England team, Flintoff’s closest friends have been men like Steve Harmison, Robert Key and Matthew Hoggard, who would all prefer a pint in the pub to cocktails in a swish bar, and he has retained a strong circle of friends from his childhood days in Preston (he now lives near Knutsford in Cheshire).He was always mad on sport. In France, we’d go out for lunch, spend four or five hours on the beach, swim and spend the evening chatting over a bottle of ros?He’s one of the most laid-back individuals I’ve met in my life. He dislikes the intrusiveness of mobile phones; his is often switched off and he refuses to take it on holiday.After the third Test, the Flintoffs enjoyed a break on the French Riviera with friends. He liked being in France because “they’re not bothered about the Ashes”. Uncomfortable with fame (whenever his wife tries to put cricket memorabilia up around their house, Flintoff takes it down), he could not help noticing on an evening out upon his return that “almost everybody recognised me – not just blokes, but women and teenage kids, too”.Paul Beck, one of the friends who joined him in St Tropez, said: “He’s not flash.

Indeed, when interviewed earlier this year, Flintoff estimated he still consumed about 24 units of alcohol a week and said his favourite “snack” was “fish fingers, beans, chips and bread”. Indeed, it was reported that at his wedding reception earlier this year the groom dined on fish fingers.Marriage to Rachael, whom he met three years ago, and the arrival last year of their daughter, Holly, have changed the lifestyle of a popular figure who has always enjoyed socialising. His family have been travelling everywhere with him, though they will not go on England’s tour of Pakistan this winter; Flintoff admits he is not looking forward to eight weeks away from them.His tastes today are hardly those of a rabble-rouser. He swapped his Jaguar S-type for a more staid Volkswagen Touareg and has taken up fly-fishing. He listens to Radio 2 and likes Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, U2 and Rod Stewart. Flintoff’s first instinct was not to join in the wild celebrations but to put a consoling arm around his adversary, a fighter he recognises as a kindred spirit.His career has been plagued by injuries, and in the past Flintoff’s fitness problems may not have been helped by his formidable capacity for drink.