Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff makes rare public appearance nine months after Top Gear crash

England cricket legend Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff has made a rare public appearance nine months after he suffered serious facial injuries in a car crash.

Flintoff was at Cardiff’s Sophia Gardens in Wales on Friday to watch England’s opening one-day international against New Zealand from the balcony.

The former England captain, 45, was filming for the BBC show Top Gear when he crashed at the Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey.

Flintoff, who was one of the presenters of the show, has kept a low profile since the accident.

However, the former all-rounder, who played in 79 Tests and 141 one-day matches for England, was pictured in an England coaching kit at Sophia Gardens on Friday.

The injuries from the Top Gear crash, which brought the filming of series 34 to a halt, appeared evident on his face.

Flintoff is a close friend of England managing director Rob Key and is set to be with the squad for the remainder of the series.

He is not due to be with the group for the upcoming World Cup in India.

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A statement from BBC Studios earlier this year said it had “concluded its investigation into the accident at the Top Gear Test Track in Surrey last December, which regrettably injured presenter Freddie Flintoff”.

It continued: “We have sincerely apologised to Freddie and will continue to support him with his recovery. Under the circumstances, we feel it would be inappropriate to resume making series 34 of Top Gear at this time.

“We understand this will be disappointing for fans, but it is the right thing to do, and we’ll make a judgement about how best to continue later this year. This has also impacted the production team, who we continue to support.”

Flintoff ended his international career in 2009 after helping England to an Ashes series victory over Australia before he retired from all forms of the game in 2015.

He went on to launch a career in broadcasting, which also included featuring on Sky’s “A League Of Their Own”.