Freddie Flintoff hangs up his cricket boots for good

Andrew Flintoff, an inspirational figure in English cricket, has finally succumbed to the inevitable and retired from all forms of the game aged just 32. He said this morning he had taken the decision with "disappointment and sadness", adding: "Having been told my body would no longer stand up to the rigours of cricket, I had no alternative."

The effervescent all-rounder can look back on a career containing many moments English cricket fans will never forget, most notably his contribution to the epic 2005 Ashes series win over Australia.

He will, however, wonder what might have been had he not been dogged by the injuries that restricted him to just 79 Test matches and also meant he was often performing below his superlative best.

As an integral part of the 2005 victory, taking 24 wickets and scoring 402 runs - many of them in daredevil style - Flintoff showed what he was capable of when unfettered by injury.

But the moment of the series that will perhaps live longest in the memory is Flintoff consoling Australian bowler Brett Lee after England had clinched victory at Edgbaston. It established Flintoff as a genuine sportsman and won the admiration of cricket fans regardless of their allegiance. 

After captaining England in the disastrous 5-0 Ashes defeat of 2006/7, the injuries became more frequent and more debilitating. His enthusiasm, combined with his importance to the England team, often led to him bowling more overs than he should, risking further lay-offs.

In his final Test series as an England player, the 2009 Ashes, he was obviously struggling for fitness but still managed to produce a couple of fearsome spells, one of which turned the Lord's Test in England's favour. Even when not featuring with the ball or bat he produced the pivotal moment of the final Test at the Oval - an inspired run-out to remove the Australian captain Ricky Ponting and precipitate an Australian batting collapse.

Flintoff was an idol to England fans, not just for swashbuckling batting and fearsome bowling but because - as the cliche goes - in him they could recognise one of their own. The human aspect of 'Freddie' Flintoff, a sports star who could turn up to Downing Street to meet the Prime Minister still very much the worse for wear after celebrating victory over the Aussies, was always going to chime with supporters, and not just England's Barmy Army.

He recently expressed a desire to win his England one-day place back and had agreed to play Twenty20 cricket in Australia this winter with the Queensland Bulls. But despite these plans, it seemed increasingly unlikely he would appear on a cricket field again.

A knee injury that would not respond to surgery finally persuaded him to call it a day. Had he played on, there is a sense that his troublesome ankle or another joint in his weary body would have given way, leaving him a shadow of the colossus of 2005. ·