Former England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff is to play for the Brisbane Heat in the upcoming Big Bash League.
Flintoff, 36, came out of retirement to make a return to action this summer with a handful of appearances in the shortest format for Lancashire Lightning, coming close to helping them snatch victory over Birmingham Bears in the NatWest T20 Blast final.
Can’t wait to get started with @HeatBBL in the bigbash ! @ThursNightSport
— andrew flintoff (@flintoff11) October 23, 2014
He will now continue his playing return in Australia, heading out in December to link up with former Lancashire team-mate Stuart Law, who is the Brisbane coach, as well as fellow international signings Daniel Vettori of New Zealand and West Indies leg-spinner Samuel Badree.
“I’m excited to be coming back to Australia and especially to Brisbane which has always been a favourite spot of mine to play,” Flintoff said on the Heat’s official website.
“Stuart and I have had a few conversations and I’m clear on what we’re looking to achieve in the competition. The Heat squad has some exciting talent and I’m looking forward to catching up with Dan Vettori again.”
Flintoff agreed a deal to play for Queensland in the competition in 2010 but injury prevented him from taking up the opportunity.
“I’ve seen from afar how the BBL has evolved so quickly to become a world-class competition and it’s a challenge that I am certainly up for,” Flintoff added.
“I really enjoyed my T20 season with Lancs and having the opportunity to keep playing is something I am very pleased about. It’s going to be great heading out to Brisbane and getting into the swing of things for the BBL in December.”
Law added: “I’ve told Fred we signed him to win games of cricket, so that means we want him bowling 140km/h, hitting sixes and using his experience around the group to get the job done.
“He’s an enormous competitor and so I know he is coming out for the right reasons. The Brisbane fans will quickly discover he’s a champion fella and I’m sure they will love having him with the team.”
The Brisbane Heat, who won the competition in 2012, will play their opener away to Eoin Morgan’s Sydney Thunder on December 21.
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