Freddie Flintoff reveals how ‘proud’ he feels to be changing young people’s lives-Pierra Willix-Entertainment – Metro

Freddie Flintoff has spoken about the impact of mentoring a group of teens, sharing it was ‘unlike anything I’ve worked on before’.

In December 2022, the pro cricket player was airlifted to hospital and said to be ‘lucky to be alive’ after an accident at the Top Gear test track during filming at Dunsfold Aerdrome in Surrey.

He suffered from severe facial injuries and broken ribs and had been driving an open-topped car at a reportedly high speed of 130mph when it flipped and slid along the track.

In the months that followed Freddie kept a low profile, but this week returned to screens for the first time with a new season of Field of Dreams.

The four-part series follows him taking a team of aspiring young cricketers from his hometown of Preston on a tour of India.

But weeks before the trip to Kolkata, Freddie’s life-changing accident threatened to put a halt to their dreams.

Freddie Flintoff has spoken about the impact of mentoring teenagers (Picture: BBC/ South Shore Productions/ Anirudh Agarwal)

One year later, he visits his team to announce the trip is back on, but once they make it to India the team must learn to live with each other and as the lads prepare to compete in one of the most revered cricketing nations in the world.

Speaking about leading the initiative, Freddie said he felt immense ‘pride’.

‘Essentially the heart of this is the boys’ development and I take great pride in seeing it. Seeing the good times, they have, and also being there for the bad times,’ he told the show’s broadcaster BBC.

‘I like the fact that they feel they can talk to me, and they feel I can help them.’

‘And we’ve had such a character shift from a lot of lads, which has been the best thing. Obviously at the heart of this trip to India was the boys’ development, and I take great pride in seeing it.’

He went on to say: ‘It couldn’t have been done any better, because we’re seeing an incredible group of boys grow up. I think it’ll be unlike anything you’ve ever seen before from start to finish, I really do.’

Some of the boys involved in the team also expressed their gratitude for Freddie’s mentorship.

The former cricketer’s show Field of Dreams was put on hold after his horror Top Gear crash (Picture: S Meddle/ ITV/ Rex/ Shutterstock)

Adnan, 18 – who came to England aged 15 from Afghanistan – said the cricketer ‘changed my life forever’.

Although Adnan has always dreamed of being a professional cricketer, he had no access to education or cricket training in his home country.

But, with Freddie’s help, he’s since secured a sports scholarship at an independent boarding school and has been granted asylum in the UK until he can apply for British citizenship.

‘Basically, people say when you are talented you need a bit of luck as well. So, in my life it wasn’t luck, it was one person – Freddie,’ he told the BBC.

‘He’s changed my life forever. He gave me every single opportunity. He said “Adnan, I’ll give you the opportunity but it’s all up to you how you’re going to take it. If you take it properly you will reach somewhere and you will go somewhere”.’

In the series Freddie also speaks about how difficult it was to cope with the anxiety he suffered following his horror Top Gear crash, which left him with ‘nightmares’ and ‘flashbacks’.

One of the boys said Freddie had ‘changed his life’ (Picture: Danny Lawson/ PA Wire)

Filming seven months after the crash, he says in the first episode: ‘I thought I could just shake it off, I wanted to shake it off, and say, “here I am, I’m alright,” but it’s not been a case of that, it’s been much harder than I thought.

‘As much as I wanted to go out and do things, I’ve just not been able to.’

However, despite having left the house very little since the crash, Freddie said he ‘didn’t want to sit here and feel sorry for myself’.

He added: ‘I’ve got to get on with it.’

Freddie Flintoff’s Field of Dreams On Tour is streaming on BBC iPlayer.

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