Freddie Flintoff unsure if he'll 'ever be better again' after harrowing accident
Freddie Flintoff vowed to take a huge group of aspiring cricket players to "a place where cricket is ten times bigger than football" - but the dream trip to India very nearly never took place.
The big-hearted star had vowed to take the "elitism" out of sport by creating his own cricket team and offering those from low-income homes the chance to hone their talent abroad. Everything was to be filmed for an access all areas documentary series - but just weeks before the day of travel, staff had to break the bad news to the nine excited teens that their big break was postponed - and might never happen at all.
Freddie barely left his house during an agonising seven months of recovery after a car he was test-driving for Top Gear flipped over at speed, leaving him with horrific facial injuries and blood pouring down his face. When he finally made his comeback to film more scenes for Field of Dreams, the difference in his demeanour before and after the accident was huge.
A very subdued Freddie was asked by one of his worried cricket pupils: "Are you feeling better?" He honestly replied: "Not really - and I don't know if I ever will be."
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READ MORE: Freddie Flintoff pictured with healing scars from Top Gear crash [LATEST]
Freddie Flintoff took a group of teens to India (Image: BBC)Freddie took up the story in an exclusive Q&A after the advance screening of the show, revealing that he'd "desperately wanted" to take the kids - who all lived in his hometown of Preston - on tour.
"Cricket has got a reputation for being elitist," he explained, vowing to change that, before marvelling that "these kids only got one opportunity and they grabbed it with both hands".
Describing the tour as one of his favourites ever, he reminisced: "The nice thing about it was seeing it through [the boys'] eyes as well.
"I [have to] check myself every now and then to remind myself that I'm a 46-year-old man, I'm not a 19-year-old lad. You just get swept up in them."
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The teens were so thrilled to be on tour and filled with excitement when they spotted even small things, like a fast food outlet on the motorway.
Some had never been abroad before and needed to apply for passports.
Freddie underwent a huge transition during recovery - and so did the boys, who grew along with him.
He exclaimed: "If you'd have seen the first ever session we did with the lads, [they were] angry young teenagers [with] no interest in cricket. Then to see them in India, they were pretty much young adults."
There were some "nerve-wracking" moments and times when he had to call team members out on their "disrespect", but overall, it was a huge success and Freddie's glad he broke through his injuries.
Freddie Flintoff’s Field of Dreams On Tour airs Tuesday 13th August at 9.00pm on BBC One and iPlayer.
window.topArticlesScript="https://cdn.images.express.co.uk/js/dist/article-top-articles202408011.min.js"Freddie Flintoff unsure if he'll 'ever be better again' after harrowing accident
Freddie Flintoff unsure if he'll 'ever be better again' after harrowing accident
Freddie Flintoff unsure if he'll 'ever be better again' after harrowing accident
Freddie Flintoff unsure if he'll 'ever be better again' after harrowing accident
Freddie Flintoff unsure if he'll 'ever be better again' after harrowing accident
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