CRICKETER turned gameshow regular, one-off boxer and men's fashion entrepreneur Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff is adding another string to his bow as a double act on stage in York on Wednesday night.

In Freddie Flintoff: 2nd Innings, the Lancashire lad teams up with television comedy producer, writer and podcast partner-in-crime Clyde Holcroft at the Grand Opera House at 8pm, when the flannelled favourite will reflect on the tenth anniversary of his greatest summer, the 2005 Ashes triumph over Rick Ponting, Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne's all-conquering Australia.

How did the idea for 2nd Innings come about, Freddie? "It started when my mate Clyde Holcroft decided we should do our own Flintoff & Holcroft podcast. We were always sitting around talking nonsense and Clyde had the idea to record it. So we got started; there was no script, we just chatted about whatever popped into our heads," he says.

"It was quite raw and unprepared but people seemed to really like them and we ended up doing 20 or so. Then Clyde went to see Henry Blofeld and Peter Baxter's Memories Of Test Match Special on tour – who, by the way, I'm not comparing ourselves to in any way, shape or form, they are the masters – and he got the idea that perhaps we could do the same. After all, it wouldn’t be that different to what we did with our podcast."

Meanwhile, Freddie worked with comedians such as John Bishop and Jack Whitehall on Sky 1's comedy sports quiz A League Of Their Own. "It gave me a bit of confidence to think 'why not have a go?'. We said we would at least try it and so we did a dry-run in some very small rooms in and around London," he says.

"That way, if it failed, hardly anyone would know about it! We did four venues and basically did four entirely different shows, because of all the varied topics that came up at each place. That went well so we decided to take it to the Melton Theatre in Melton Mowbray, which was a real test because it holds 500 people and we ended up doing nearly two hours on stage.”

Now the show is touring and a new Flintoff-fronted game show, the darts-based One Hundred And Eighty, is up and running on Sky1. What else would Freddie still like to achieve?

"I've been really lucky and I'm sure people will get sick of me soon but you make hay while the sun shines, don’t you?" he says. "I'd like to do a show that's all my own – whether that's TV or radio – something I can take ownership of and develop, but if it doesn't happen, that's fine too. I live a pretty simple life these days; as long as my kids are happy and I can have a holiday every year that's all I need.”

Tickets for Wednesday or on sale on 0844 871 3024 or at atgtickets.com/york

Charles Hutchinson