Freddie "loving it"

Andrew Flintoff has admitted he is really enjoying his cricket at the moment after a successful international comeback this summer.

The 30-year-old has undergone four ankle operations since the victorious 2005 Ashes campaign and also missed the early part of this season with a side strain.

After a slow start his comeback in the Test series defeat to South Africa, the Lancastrian has bounced back in the one-day series with both bat and ball and picked up the man-of-the-series award during the 4-0 drubbing of the Proteas.

Flintoff has spent months working in the gym to get back to full fitness and admits that his recent success is down to hard work, after the pain and frustration of spending so much time on the treatment table.

"I think I'm a better cricketer for those dark times and a better person," he said. "When you experience tough times, the better times are that much sweeter.

"I was sitting on the balcony at Lord's the other day after we'd won and one of the lads asked if I'd enjoyed it.

"I'd been through a whole host of things just to be sitting there with a man-of-the-match award and playing for a side that's 4-0 up in a series against South Africa, so I just couldn't stop smiling.

"It's a complete reversal from six months ago and I suppose that all goes back to enjoyment and I'm absolutely loving it at the moment."