The Book of Fred: Funny anecdotes and hilarious insights from the much-loved TV presenter and cricketer

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To me, however, Flintoff will always be an iconic cricketer and it was for this reason I picked up the book. It's not an out and out autobiography in that it isn't a chronological telling of Flintoff's life and/or career. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice.

But, at 43 years of age, and with a bit more time on his hands than usual, Freddie Flintoff has had a moment to reflect and he's noticed that, although there's been little method in the madness, there has been the occasional common thread.Spanning all stages of his life from childhood indiscretions to adult, well, indiscretions, the book bounces from the sublime (his series winning performance in the 2005 Ashes) to the ridiculous (singing Elvis Presley’s ‘Suspicious Minds’ in front of a live audience); from the highs (making the transition to top TV presenter) to occasional lows (accidently upsetting the lovely Bruce Forsyth); and from the profane (discussing Shane Warne’s barnet with Hollywood royalty) to the profound (why ‘having a go’ leads to self-respect). Then, explosively, he lit up the second half of the summer in 2004, lifting spirits at Lord’s with a bat-smashing 142. It was a great bit of escapism, with Freddie's opinions on all sorts of things put down on paper almost like a stream of consciousness, such that he does contradict himself (by his own admission) quite often.

I’m not gonna lie the cricket chapter went over my head but other than that there were quite a few topics where he definitely has a good point.Flintoff's wit and charisma, which endeared him to fans worldwide, are evident throughout the memoir. Although I thought this was going to be a book mainly about cricket, it is more a personal insight into a person who, away from the cricket field and television cameras, is a very private character with much the same doubts and insecurities as most people. Each Certificate of Authenticity also includes either an example image of the product or a small photo of the individual signing the product. The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products. The lost form, gain form, Neil Fairbrother helped me then we went for a drink down the pub with Harmison and Rob Key.