“I am ashamed”: Andrew Flintoff was once stripped of England’s vice-captaincy due to drinking habit in West Indies

Andrew Flintoff was the vice-captain of England in the 2007 ICC World Cup in West Indies, but during the tournament, he got engaged in a controversy where he was stripped from his vice-captaincy role midway through the tournament and faced a ban as well which certainly affected the English team.

England started their tournament with a defeat against New Zealand in St Lucia, and they were set to face Canada in their next match at the very same stadium. However, in between the games, Flintoff was caught drinking along with five other players just 48 hours before the match in St Lucia.

Flintoff was banned from playing in the game against Canada, and he was also removed as the vice-captain of the side. This was certainly a blow for him as he was one of the prominent names on the team, and even he accepted that his actions have been quite disappointing.

Andrew Flintoff was once stripped of England’s vice-captaincy

Flintoff said that he was ashamed as he let down the people of his country, and the team suffered as well because of it. He apologized to everyone about the same. Flintoff went on to add that the coach took the right decision to ban him as he deserved the punishment for his actions.

Flintoff called it a wake-up call and acknowledged that he got responsibilities both on and off the field as even the youngsters watch him and adore him. He insisted that he will prove his progress by performing on the field.

“I am ashamed. I’ve let people down. The team’s been weakened because I was not available for selection, and I’ve let down my family, friends and the public back home. So it’s been a horrible few days. I’m so sorry for what I’ve done. It’s affected a lot of people,” Andrew Flintoff said as quoted by The Guardian.

Flintoff was a star player, and he became the most expensive player of that time during the IPL 2009 auction, where he was bought by Chennai Super Kings. The all-rounder had a lot of great moments in test career as well where he said quite a few times that he loved playing in the Ashes.