Freddie's the flint
On his debut for Lanacashire, aged 17, Flintoff scored seven and a duck and dropped five catches.
The right-handed all-rounder made his Test debut on July 23, 1998 against South Africa at Nottingham and though his natural talent was never in doubt, he was criticised for his flab.
At one stage he weighed in at 114 kg, heavier than the then world heavyweight boxing champion Lennox Lewis.
When his agents, Neil Fairbrother and Chubby Chandler, advised him to lose weight in 2001, he went on a prolonged binge of chicken dhansaks and garlic naans.
Flintoff found himself out of favour for England and was performing poorly at Lancashire.
The county coach, Australia's Bob Simpson, gave him a rollicking and called him a 'cunt'.
