Andrew Flintoff: This is not the end of England career

Andrew Flintoff says that his retirement from Test cricket after the Ashes is far from being the end of his sporting career. He intends to play on for several years more - maybe even until the 2015 World Cup - as a one-day international specialist.

After explaining his rationale for his decision, which comes into force at the end of the England-Australia series, Flintoff said that he wanted to concentrate on the shorter form of the game. He intends to use the time freed up by his Test retirement to become the best one-day player in the world.

"This is not something I have thought of overnight," Flintoff said. "It has been building up for a while. I have had four ankle operations, and knee surgery. My body is telling me things and I'm starting to listen to it. I can't keep playing one game here and one game there.

"There is a World Cup coming up in 2011, and I'd like to play another after that. Retiring from the Test game should let me focus on one-day cricket. I still feel I've got a lot to give. Although the Ashes are on a different level to anything else, I enjoy the short form, and want to be the best I possibly can."

Flintoff said he was feeling a combination of sadness and relief as he finally acknowledged that his Test career is approaching the end of the road. But he also emphasised that he would do anything he could to add another four Tests to his current total of 75. "I want to end on a high," he said.

It is understood that Flintoff has already undergone three injections on his sore knee after the Cardiff Test, and he didn't rule out further intervention if the problem persists. As for tomorrow's Lord's Test, he bowled in the nets today and said that if he experienced no ill-effects in the morning, he would play a full part in the match.

"It is a weight off my shoulders to let everyone know where I'm at, but there is sadness too," he said. "Still, I can't grumble too much. When I started at 20 I was rubbish, and if someone had said to me 'You'll play 75 Tests" I'd have bitten their hand off."

Asked what had been the best part of his Test career, Flintoff pointed to the period between 2003 and 2005, when he averaged over 40 with the bat and turned himself into one of the most feared bowlers in the world.

"When Michael Vaughan took over as captain, I played some of my best cricket in the next two or three years. I would have liked my career to have kicked on after that. But since then, I have never got that rhythm of playing day in and day out. I have been a professional rehabber for most of the last two years."