A tall (6′ 4″) fast bowler, batsman and slip fielder, Flintoff according to the ICC rankings was consistently rated amongst the top international allrounders in both ODI and Test cricket. However, he suffered regular injuries throughout his international career, often due to his heavy frame and bowling action. On 15 July 2009 he announced his retirement from Test cricket at the conclusion of the 2009 Ashes series, on 24 August, but made himself available for future commitments in One Day International and Twenty20 International matches. Nonetheless, his struggle to make the grade at county level continued, he found form only intermittently, though often explosively when he did so. in 2000 he hit 135 not out in the Quarter-finals of the Natwest Trophy against Surrey, which David Gower described as “the most awesome innings we are ever going to see on a cricket field”. Though he lost his England place during 2001, he remodelled his bowling action and gained a place on the 2001-02 tour to India. Though he hit possibly his worst international batting form during the Test series, frustrating him to the point that he broke down in tears in the dressing room at one stage, he later saw the tour as a turning point in his career, specifically the crucial final one-day match.