Fred bowls into Guild

Preston’s all-round favourite son Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff is heading home and tickets are now on sale for his visit on July 7.

A decade after England’s legendary 2005 Ashes victory, cricket icon Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff is set to share his memories on a special live theatre tour of the UK.

‘Flintoff & Holcroft: Balls Out’ will arrive at the Guild Hall on the eve of this year’s Ashes – apt, as the show was created to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Freddie’s greatest summer.

The 2005 series propelled Flintoff to sporting legend status making him one of England’s most admired cricket stars of all time.

Freddie – along with TV producer and writer friend Clyde Holcroft – will take to the stage to reflect on this sporting milestone and share his memories of that long hot summer long ago, and to offer his take on a wide range of topics.

Last year Freddie and Clyde launched a new sporting podcast.

Recorded on Freddie’s phone, each episode is an unscripted, unedited and refreshingly unguarded conversation between the two.

The Daily Telegraph described the podcasts as “A delight. This has made me smile more than any other podcast I’ve heard in months.”

The Flintoff & Holcroft: Balls Out tour will bring the podcast to life in theatres up and down the country, in the process taking in three shows at the Edinburgh Festival.

The live show, which will tie in with this year’s Ashes, will see the pair cover all the tournament news, relive memories from 2005, and moments from Freddie’s career such as his world record-breaking marathons for Sport Relief.

The tour is a chance to see one of British sport’s most revered personalities talk about his experiences, on and off the pitch, in a refreshingly honest way.

Talking about the tour Fred said: “Clyde and I had such a great response to the podcast we thought it would be a fun idea to turn it into a live show.

“Like the podcast we hope that the tour will be a lot of laughs and an excuse for us to talk about life and the lighter side of cricket.”

Since retiring from international cricket, Freddie’s popularity and affable manner has transferred perfectly from the pitch to the airwaves and screens as a Radio and TV presenter.

He is a Team Captain on Sky’s A League of Their Own, he’s cycled across the Amazon, sold fish and chips across the country, and is even an undefeated professional heavyweight boxer.

After a five-year absence Freddie is back doing what he loves most, playing cricket again both for Lancashire and this winter for Brisbane Heat in the Big Bash.

When Freddie was winning the Ashes, Clyde was watching him from the stands.

Clyde has worked in TV for nearly 20 years.

He has produced and written on Comic Relief, Sport Relief, The Frank Skinner Show, James Corden’s World Cup Live and many more.

For ticket information see www.prestonguildhall.com/ or call 0844 844 771020.

For more details see www.andrewflintoffofficial.co.uk