{"id":288869,"date":"2023-09-16T12:35:13","date_gmt":"2023-09-16T12:35:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/?p=288869"},"modified":"2023-09-16T12:35:13","modified_gmt":"2023-09-16T12:35:13","slug":"piers-morgan-says-freddie-flintoff-sent-him-54-word-text-last-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/%d1%81ricket\/piers-morgan-says-freddie-flintoff-sent-him-54-word-text-last-week\/","title":{"rendered":"Piers Morgan says Freddie Flintoff sent him '54-word text' last week"},"content":{"rendered":"
Piers Morgan has revealed Freddie Flintoff sent him a ’54-word text message’ last week after the former England star was seen for the first time since his life threatening car crash.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The journalist, who was writing in his column ‘Piers Morgan Uncensored’ for The Sun did not reveal the exact words of the message, but stated Flintoff ‘sounded very positive, and said he was loving being back around the cricket world again.’\u00a0<\/p>\n
The 45-year-old was ‘lucky to be alive’ according to his 16-year-old son Corey, after his open-top\u00a0Morgan Super 3, which is capable of speeds of up to 130mph, flipped over suddenly in icy conditions back in December.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Flintoff was filming for Top Gear at the time and nine months later, has been seen for the first time since the near-fatal accident, with photographs of Flintoff showing several scars on his face.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mail Sport understands that the 2005 Ashes hero began his return from the crash by watching England play against Australia in this summer’s series ‘incognito’ in back offices as a guest of England managing director and best friend Rob Key.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Piers Morgan (right) has revealed Freddie Flintoff (left) sent him a text message last week<\/p>\n
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While he did not divulge the full details of the message, Morgan claimed Flintoff (pictured) seemed ‘positive’ and was ‘loving being back around the cricket world again’<\/p>\n
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The 45-year-old was pictured back with England for the first time this week with scars on his face, following his horror car accident back in December<\/p>\n
He’s since taken up an unpaid mentorship role with the national side and has been seen this week smiling and grinning as he watched England claim a 3-1 ODI series victory against New Zealand.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Morgan, a close friend of Flintoff’s, claimed that he had not had contact with the former cricketer for eight months, despite sending him regular WhatsApps and spoke of his concern at the radio silence from Flintoff.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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He wrote: ‘For eight months, there was no reply; just a constant, increasingly unsettling silence from a guy who I\u2019ve known for 20 years, texted with very often, and who I consider a great friend.<\/p>\n
‘The longer the silence went on, the more worried I grew about what exactly had happened to him in an accident I knew he\u2019d been lucky to survive.’\u00a0<\/p>\n
‘I was simply told he was “periscope down” which did nothing to allay my concerns,’ he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mail Sport unveiled the first images of Flintoff\u00a0following the incident last Friday as he helped England train ahead of their opening ODI match against New Zealand.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And on seeing the pictures, Morgan messaged his old friend once again, this time receiving a reply from the cricketer.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
‘I texted him, and Rachael, to say how happy the photos had made me, and to my amazement, Freddie replied,’ The Sun columnist wrote.\u00a0<\/p>\n
‘I won\u2019t say what he wrote in his message because he\u2019s said nothing publicly yet about what happened that fateful day last December, and it\u2019s for him to choose what he wants to say when he decides to say it.<\/p>\n
‘But he sounded very positive, and said he was loving being back around the cricket world again.’<\/p>\n
Many inside the cricket world have, like Morgan, also expressed their delight to see the cricketing icon back.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Former team-mate Steve Harmison told\u00a0<\/span>talkSPORT\u00a0that ‘It was great to see him back.\u00a0It’s been tough, you’ve seen the pictures of him with a smile on his face but I saw him about six weeks ago when my son Charlie and his son, Rocky played against each other and it was great to see him.\u00a0<\/p>\n ‘I got to see him then but at that time he covered his face up when he walked around \u2013 believe it or not, he was training a guide dog which I’m sure is going better now than it was because he tripped over around three times on his way around the field!’\u00a0<\/p>\n Paul Collingwood added that Flintoff was ‘pinching himself’ to be once again involved with the England team, saying, ‘The knowledge he\u2019s got playing the game and pressure situations \u2013 he pretty much encapsulated how this white-ball team goes about their cricket. It\u2019s all about putting the opposition under pressure, which is exactly what he did.’<\/p>\n Meanwhile, England’s current crop of stars have also expressed how good it has been to have Flintoff’s wisdom in and around the dressing room.\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Flintoff (right) has taken up an unpaid mentorship role with the England squad and has been seen working with the side throughout their ODI series victory against New Zealand last week<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Many former players and current stars have expressed their delight to see Flintoff back working with England<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Morgan, writing in his column for The Sun, recalled some brilliant anecdotes about the 2005 Ashes hero (pictured), before wrapping up his piece saying ‘Welcome back mate!’<\/p>\n Chris Woakes spoke this week of how ‘surreal’ it was to have Flintoff around the squad with pictures emerging of the former star laughing and smiling with the current stars, who have impressed with the white ball in the past two weeks against New Zealand.<\/p>\n Woakes said:\u00a0\u2018Having Freddie around the group is amazing and I\u2019ve thoroughly enjoyed it. It\u2019s the first time I\u2019ve spent a large amount of time with him.<\/p>\n ‘I\u2019ve met him on a few occasions but to have him around the group \u2013 for me, he was a hero of mine growing up. To pick his brains and chat a bit of rubbish with him in the dressing-room is surreal really. It\u2019s great!\u2019<\/p>\n Morgan, who recalled several brilliant anecdotes about the England legend in his column, expressed his delight to see Flintoff back working with England, finishing his piece saying: ‘Welcome back mate!’<\/p>\n Source: Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Piers Morgan reveals Freddie Flintoff sent him a ’54-word text’ last week saying he’s ‘loving being back around the cricket world again’ as the England […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":288868,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n