Ever spent a night in hospital? Lots. I've had probably nine or 10 operations on various parts of my body through my career. I was in hospital about a month ago. I had a knee operation and as a result I got deep vein thrombosis, so I had to go back in for a night.
Notable accidents? I cracked my head open playing football when I was about 12. There was a vent on the side of the wall, coming out of the house. I'd crouched down and as I stood up I hit my head on it. That wasn't my first visit to hospital – I'd had my tonsils out before then.
What exercise do you take? I train pretty much every day for probably between two and five hours. I play cricket, I go to the gym, run, cycle, swim, lift weights, box, pretty much everything. You have to – especially being an all-rounder. I'd wanted to play cricket since I was six. My dad played for a local team on a Saturday afternoon, and my brother and I used to go and watch him, then we progressed to playing.
Do you worry about your weight? Yeah, constantly. I can put weight on pretty quickly, so it's something I monitor. I grew up quite a skinny kid, and then I put it on in my early 20s.
How much do you drink? I like to have a glass of wine, but it's not a daily thing – it's just if the mood takes me or at the end of a game when I'm having a bit of time off. I've made a few mistakes along the way, that's no secret, but I think it's all part of growing up. I was in my early 20s and I went out a bit too much.
How much sleep do you need? As much as I can get, but with young kids you get up early, so I make myself go to bed a bit earlier. I used to like a lie-in, but those days are long gone.
Attitude to smoking? I've smoked, but it's not one of my favourite things. You stink when you smoke, don't you? And it says on the packet what it does.
Attitude to drugs? From my point of view, I have to take anti-inflammatories and stuff to recover from injuries – but if you're talking recreational drugs, I've no tolerance.
Are you happy? I'm very happy. I've got my family life – a wife and three great kids. I'm spending more and more time with them, and professionally I enjoy what I do, so I've not got much to gripe about.★
Ashes to Ashes by Andrew Flintoff is published by Hodder & Stoughton, £19.99
