The Australians will be hard enough to beat without the England team joining in. Andrew Flintoff’s announcement that he will retire from Test cricket at the end of the Ashes might surely have waited until the series was done.

In the fullness of time, Flintoff will be remembered as a good cricketer but not a great one. A truly top class all-rounder should command a place in the side as both a specialist batsman and bowler. There was only a short spell when Flintoff was one of England’s top six batsmen and a Test batting average of 31.69 is that of a very useful lower order player. As a bowler, Flintoff has had inspirational moments but too few of them to be classed in the first rank. In 76 Test matches he took 219 wickets at a strike rate well below the best and an average (33.08) that is the highest of any England bowler to take 200 wickets.

But, if the statistics do not lie, then they may not quite tell the full story. Flintoff’s experience of captaincy was mixed. He drew a series in India in 2006 but led England to a 5-0 trouncing in Australia later the same year. However, Flintoff will always be associated with the summer of 2005 and the regaining of the Ashes. He contributed 402 runs and 24 wickets and galvanised the side with his sheer presence.

It may be that Flintoff has already played his last Test. His ankles and knees have had enough. The team management has probably had enough of his difficulty with getting out of bed on time. But if the flagging body can be forced back on to the pitch then perhaps there is a final act of inspiration to come. Let us hope so. But he should still have kept his mouth shut until the series was over.