Former England cricket star Andrew Flintoff has confirmed that he is to make a comeback for Lancashire in this year's Twenty20 Blast tournament. His return is likely to coincide with that of his former England colleague Kevin Pietersen, who should turn out for Surrey in the same competition next week. The reappearance of the two former England players in county colours highlights the attraction of T20 format, with Flintoff lured out of retirement to take part, while Pietersen has essentially forsaken other forms of the game to become a globetrotting T20 specialist. Rumours of Flintoff's return have been circulating for some time, but only now have they been confirmed.
Flintoff took to Twitter to declare himself delighted to be back. "I don't want it to be one year," he told the BBC. "You see Brad Hogg playing in the Big Bash, Brad Hodge is playing for Australia at 39, Glen Chapple's 40 and still charging in in four-dayers." However, Lancashire cricket director Mike Watkinson made it clear that the deal was for the T20 tournament only. "[Flintoff] has shown in practice that he still has plenty of class with bat and ball, and will be a great addition to the NatWest T20 Blast squad," he said. And despite invoking the likes of county captain Chapple, Flintoff's ambitions are unlikely to extend much beyond T20. In 2010, when he was forced to retire from the game because of a knee injury, he was already focusing his efforts on the IPL and Australia's Big Bash. At the time former England captain Nasser Hussain, writing in the Daily Mail, lamented that Flintoff wanted to be a "Twenty20 specialist, globetrotting on one leg... [plodding] around the world taking the cash and looking for his next short-term contract". Flintoff's ambition five years ago appears to have become Kevin Pietersen's reality. The former England batsman has returned to England after an underwhelming IPL tournament with the Delhi Daredevils and will turn out for Surrey in the T20 Blast, once he has overcome a finger injury. But blink and you could miss him. He will depart for the West Indies in July to play for the St Lucia Zouks in Caribbean Premier League, possibly juggling his commitments and jetting back and forth across the Atlantic if Surrey make the knockout stages. Pietersen "will only leave after their group games conclude on 25 July and [will] return if Surrey reach the quarter-finals and finals day", reports the BBC. Could it be that Flintoff still hopes to join KP on his round-the-world adventures?
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