Not content with winning the Ashes, Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff has displayed his mastery of England's real national sport: binge-drinking.

After cracking open the champagne as soon as the umpires removed the bails at the Oval at 6:15pm yesterday, the Lancashire all-rounder carried on the celebrations with teammates throughout the night.

London's Evening Standard reported today that after downing more champagne in the dressing room, Flintoff moved on to beer back at the team hotel near Tower Bridge before hitting the gin and tonic in the early hours and then the vodka and cranberry juice.

At 7am, while most of his teammates were trying to sleep off their hangovers, he reportedly ordered another beer for breakfast.

An English team source said that Flintoff, voted man of the series, had drunk so much that he was virtually unable to talk when BBC Radio 4 asked for an interview this morning.

The boozing continued on the victory parade - where Flintoff stood on the team's open-top bus swigging champagne beside his wife, Rachael, who has been credited with keeping his partying in check.

Flintoff appeared to take a bit of a break during the celebrations in Trafalgar Square, where he told David Gower, the former England captain: "To be honest with you, David, I’m struggling. I’ve not been to bed yet. Behind these glasses there are 1,000 stories."

But from there it was a short bus ride down to Downing Street, where Flintoff was caught by television cameras relaxing on a deckchair in Tony Blair's back garden with another bottle of beer.

Clearly thrilled with helping to bring home the Ashes, he told reporters that he was also being awarded the ancient honour of the freedom of his home town, Preston.

"That means I can drive a flock of sheep through the town centre, drink for free in no less than 64 pubs and get a lift home with the police when I become inebriated," he said. "What more could you want?"

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