Quotes from Andrew Flintoff

In the past five weeks I've trained hard, trying to get my ankle back to where I want it to be

There have always been two people jostling for control of my life, two totally opposite characters. The first one is super-confident, bulletproof, a showman, and an extrovert. He tries to make people laugh, messes about, gets into trouble, shrugs it off. The other character is withdrawn and reflective.

In boxing, Mike Tyson fascinates me. The attitude and confidence that he could not be beaten when he was heavyweight champion of the world was interesting. He came across as very mild-mannered, and much of what he said made sense.

India - I've always felt at home there. Delhi and Mumbai and the Taj Mahal are all incredible - but it's the people I love. Indians are so interesting and accommodating and friendly. The best hotel I've stayed at there is the Rambagh Palace in Jaipur: its architecture is unbelievable.

It is one thing being scrutinised for playing a bad shot as a batsman or bowling a bad spell as a bowler, but the captaincy adds an extra dimension. The criticism is slightly harder to take.

I like spending time away with the family.

Maybe it's the sportsman in me, but if it is going to be television, I want to be the best I can be.

I have no problems with a multicultural society; I think that is to the benefit of the country. But you have to be careful what levels you take it to.

Now, I have a confession to make. I hate warm-ups with a passion. Worst part of the whole day. Nonsense, they are.

I worked behind the record counter at Woolworths when I was 16. It was when Oasis' 'Definitely Maybe' came out and The Verve were getting big. I'd have probably worked my way up to store manager if I'd have stuck around.

I love Britain, but I've only been to the obvious places.

Apart from the occasional bit of dad dancing, I really can't dance.

I can easily go up to 19 stone or so if I'm not careful.

Playing for England was always something I dreamt of and, of course, you then think of the captaincy. It was something I never thought I would be offered, especially after the way I started my career. But when it came along, I was very keen to have a go.

When you get offered the captaincy, you've got to have a go. In India, where it went well, I was playing well ,and anything that needed doing, I'd do it myself. When I wasn't playing well, it was tough.

I'm a bit old school with my aftershave - I still wear Joop.

I've been offered all the usual, 'Strictly Come Dancing' and the like, but the one thing I know is that for me to be good, I've got to absolutely love doing something. And you can't dance the foxtrot half-hearted.

Sometimes, there's a fine line between bravery and utter stupidity. The day I decided to climb into a boxing ring for a professional fight was probably on the side of stupidity.

Personally I prefer to work things out by feel, by instinct.

The thing with sledging is it very rarely goes well. Usually, if I was sledging, I was struggling.

Success isn't about things we acquire.

The Ashes have been hard, but you take the accolades when they come along.

I made a series for ITV, just after I retired from Tests in 2009, called 'Flintoff Versus the World.' The idea was that I would attempt a series of extreme sports - rodeo riding, jumping out of aeroplanes, paragliding, cliff diving. I thought, 'Yeah, it looks fun. It's six weeks having a laugh.'

You can do pretty much anything you want in Dubai. In terms of getting around, everywhere's within half an hour in the car.