Former England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff has extended his surprise return to Twenty20 cricket with Australia's domestic Big Bash League (BBL) on Thursday, and has joined the Brisbane Heat on a short-term deal for the same.
Forced into retirement by a knee injury in 2009 after 79 Tests and 141 ODIs, Flintoff made a shock return for Lancashire in the Twenty20 Blast earlier this year. Flintoff, whose 2009 plans to play for Queensland were marred by injury, will arrive in December to reunite with his ex-Lancashire teammate, now Brisbane coach, Stuart Law.
Flintoff, who will play the back half of the BBL season, said that he is excited to be coming back to Australia and especially to Brisbane which has always been a favorite spot of his to play, Sport24 reported.
The former England all-rounder said that he and Law have had a few conversations and he is clear on what they are looking to achieve in the competition. He added that the Heat squad has some exciting talent and he is looking forward to catching up with New Zealand spinner Dan Vettori again.
Flintoff became Brisbane's third international player for the 2014-15 season alongwith Vettori and West Indies spinner Samuel Badree.
Law said that he has told Flintoff that they signed him to win games of cricket, so that means that they want him bowling 140 kilometer-per-hour, hitting sixes and using his experience around the group to get the job done.
Law said that Flintoff is an enormous competitor and so he knows he is coming out for the right reasons, adding that the Brisbane fans would quickly discover he's a champion fellow and he is sure the squad would love having the former England all-rounder with the team.
