I took my shirt off in a moment of madness: Flintoff

Jaipur, Oct 20 (UNI) England skipper Adrew Flintoff today regretted taking his shirt off in the one-day series against India in 2001-02 and said he will never do that again.

''They were 10 seconds of madness. The whole series was hinged on that last match,'' Flintoff said at a pre-match press conference ahead of their Champions Trophy match against Australia here tomorrow.

''I regret that and it is not something I can look forward to do now,'' he said and quipped, 'I'll do that in the dressing room. Not because I don't want to show off my body but because of the fat tyres around my belly.'' Flintoff said he was looking forward to lead his side, for the first time, against the arch rivals Australia tomorrow.

''I always feel proud to whenever I've to lead England. I did it against India and Sri Lanka and now I'll doing that against the Aussies. Certainly I'm looking forward to to that.'' On whether tomorrow's game would be seen as a prelude to the Ashes series next month, Freddie said he was more concerned about the present, of winning the next two games and keep England's Champions Trophy hopes alive.

''No, I'm not looking that far. It's a big game. We' ve already lost one match and are up against the world's best team -- Australia. It's gonna be very tough task and we've to play a very competitive game tomorrow and that's what I'm currently focusing on.'' Flintoff didn't attach too much importance to the dew factor and said the players should stick to the basics.

''Some day the dew is more and another day it's less. However, the basics reamin the same. Whether the ball is wet or not, you have to bowl at the good areas and that's the key,'' Freddie said, although he admitted that his team had a fielding practice last evening to address the dew factor.

Flintoff also lamented on the poor pitch conditions and felt the spectators, who wanted to see the big-scoring games, met with disappointment so far in the series.

''People want to see runs. That's what they come for. They have been disappointed sor far in the tournament. It may be because the pitches are not that good as they generally are in the sub-continent. Hopefully, we gonna see some big scoring games in the rest of the competition,'' he said.

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