Super Fred - no other word to describe him

Super.

–adjective
1.
of the highest degree, power, etc.
2.
of an extreme or excessive degree.
3.
Informal. very good; first-rate; excellent.

You can only use that word to describe the very top sportsmen and Freddie Flintoff fits that bill completely.

So the news this morning that he will quit cricket after the Ashes series, comes as an awful shock.

Flintoff may not have the best statistics for an England player (76 tests, batting average 31.69 and bowling average 32.51) but there are times when stats do not tell the whole story.

Flintoff was the talisman, the man the captained always turned to get a wicket - and invariably he did.

He excited crowds and was the man his team mates loved, always willing to put in the hard yards.

At just 31, he is way too young to retire, but his body seems to have gone because of his total effort and commitment to the cause.

He will be sorely missed on the test stage. Supermen don't grow on trees.