There’s a moment in Flintoff, the Disney+ documentary released on Friday that delves into the life of England allrounder Andrew Flintoff, which really resonates from a cricketing point of view.

Amid raw, never-before-seen footage of the horrific injuries Flintoff suffered in a car crash over two years ago, and scenes capturing both the triumphs and struggles of his cricketing journey, it’s his wife, Rachael, who says it best: cricket saved him.

In one of the most striking examples of how deeply the sport is woven into his life, Flintoff recalls the terrifying moments during the crash—filming for Top Gear in December 2022—and compares his split-second instincts to those of a batter reacting to a fast ball flying at him. Even in that life-threatening moment, it was cricket that guided his reflexes. 

"You get 0.4 seconds to make your mind up where the ball's going, what shot are you going to play, how are you going to move your feet," Flintoff says. "As it started going over, I looked at the ground and I knew if I get hit on the side, I'm going to break my neck. If I get hit on the temple, I'm dead. My best chance is go face down. I thought my face had come off. I was frightened to death."

"After the accident, I didn't think I had it in me to get through," Flintoff says. "This sounds awful, part of me thinks I should have been killed. Part of me thinks I wish I had died. I didn't want to kill myself. I wouldn't mistake the two things. I wasn't wishing, I was thinking: that would have been so much easier. Now I try to take the attitude, the sun will come up tomorrow and my kids will still give me a hug. I feel in a better place now."

Flintoff was left with broken ribs and serious facial injuries, which required extensive reconstructive surgery and left him with noticeable scarring.