Quotes from Andrew Flintoff

Cricket kept me away from trouble.

I thought my dream job was to play cricket.

One of the reasons why you want to play cricket is to play in front of big crowds, and in India, it is the perfect place to do that. The atmosphere here is like no other place in the world. Having experienced it once, you want to keep coming back.

I have been called a man of many talents, but I like to keep a few of those talents hidden.

I took my wife to a really expensive hotel in Dubai. This was when we were first dating, so I wanted to impress her. I had scallops, and after that, I went to the bathroom to be sick. I realised I had just paid £300 or £400 on scallops just to throw it up. My wife and I then talked about it; I knew I had a problem.

When I was younger, I played football and table tennis for local teams. I also played mini-rugby at primary school - I was tall for my age - and Preston Grasshoppers wanted me, but I wasn't that interested in rugby. It was always going to be cricket for me.

Big things, a real crisis, I think I'm pretty good, but this little thing will just wallop me. I think I'm managing depression better now: when the mood comes, I just try and sit it out.

I take the same Timberland holdall wherever I go, stuffed with all my gear. Or a Louis Vuitton weekender my wife bought me. I'd never have a bag that you wheel; they get in the way.

I actually love the Discovery Channel.

I flew to Los Angeles to interview Vinnie Jones and Piers Morgan for the BBC and spent 11 hours in economy on BA, and the leg room was fine. In business class, Virgin, BA, and Emirates are good. I've flown business class on Kingfisher, which has proper couches.

I never really felt I belonged; there was always a sense of apartness. At school, I was the cricketer.

Cricket was deemed too posh where I came from, and I'd never have risked walking home through the estates in my whites. My club played some of the posh schools. I'd have the cheapest kit, but I loved those games. As soon as the posh lads opened their mouths and you heard their accents, the stakes were raised.

Ambition is a funny thing. In cricket, as in many professions, it tends to take you on a journey away from where you started. That's fine, maybe inevitable. But no one ever tells you that the biggest days aren't always the best days. And the richest prizes aren't the ones you remember.

Now, I am not saying that the world is flat, but it could be.

Since leaving cricket, I've tried my hand at professional boxing, a live stage show, and working for TV. I've had some interesting experiences, including working with the former basketball player Dennis Rodman.

North of England, you're brought up on fish and chips. Friday or Saturdays every week, it was a treat.

I won some winners' medals with Lancashire - a NatWest trophy and a couple of Sunday Leagues.

The one thing we need to do to continue to maintain Test cricket as being special is cutting down the amount and make it a real occasion rather than playing one after another.

My family is not a distraction. They're the most important thing in my life.

It's a big part of my life, listening to music and watching TV.

I've got quite a lot of energy in me and a lot of pent-up aggression. I'm like a dog. I need walking.

I like going down the pub with my mates and horse racing. I don't do anything that exciting.

'Top Gear' is one of those shows that you'd love to do.

When I retired first time around, injury had beaten me, and I hated that. Now I realise I'm no longer good enough. And I can handle that. It's fine that I'm not good enough.