'Flintoff cricket lessons helped my mental health'

Madi said "it really did help" to learn how Andrew Flintoff learned to cope mentally after his serious car crash

A girl who learned how to play cricket with former England star Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff said she discovered a lot from him about the importance of mental health.

Madi, a volunteer at the Boathouse youth club in Blackpool, features in the new series of Freddie Flintoff's Field of Dreams programme as he looks to set up a girls' cricket team.

BBC presenter Flintoff said he did not leave the house for six months after a serious crash while filming for Top Gear in 2022.

Madi, 16, said "it really did help" her to learn how he coped mentally after the crash, which also left him with serious facial and rib injuries.

Madi said she found the new experience of playing cricket to be "refreshing"

"I was intrigued to hear and understand how he did things on his own," said Madi.

"I've always struggled in school with female friendships and I've always been alone really in my own head.

"I was interested to see and understand his ways of coping with it, to see if I could adapt to his ways as well, and it did really help me."

On the BBC show Flintoff told Madi: "The crash brought me back to cricket and I absolutely love it", adding he wanted "everyone to have a chance of playing".

Before meeting him, Madi said she "didn't know anything about him".

She said she used to think cricket "was just like rounders... so it never took my interest".

But when she started playing the sport she said she found it "so new but refreshing to learn something that I've never done before with such a good, supportive group".

'Amazing opportunity'

Madi, who is now a youth leader at the centre, told BBC Radio Lancashire: "I did have a couple of meltdowns" on the show "and I still don't know how to bowl or bat, but it was honestly just the experience and being given the opportunity to try something new helped me in a lot of ways."

The Boathouse, which has centres in South Shore and Grange Park, works with children and young people aged from five to 25, aiming to improve their self-esteem.

Sarah Lindsay, head of children and young people's services at the charity, said it was "amazing" to work alongside Flintoff.

"When it first came about I honestly didn't think it was going to go anywhere," she said.

"Trying to convince a group of girls that had never played cricket before to even entertain the idea was quite challenging, but to see Freddie Flintoff actually in our youth centre was an amazing opportunity".