Andrew Flintoff says Test retirement is permanent despite rumours

Andrew Flintoff has dismissed suggestions that he is considering coming out of Test retirement if he is lucky enough to make a full recovery from his latest knee operation. Flintoff, who is now based in Dubai, hopes to be in the nets again by May, but if he retains ambitions to play one-day internationals again for England, he says that he has no intentions of reversing the decision he made at the end of the Ashes series last summer to retire from Test cricket. "There have been a few reports saying 'a source close to me' said that I missed Test cricket and the buzz of it," he told the BBC website today. "You don't have to be close to me, I'd tell a complete stranger that. "If you spoke to Ian Botham, he'd love to play Test match cricket tomorrow. However, I've retired. "It'd be great to play Test cricket. It's something that's hard to give away having played 70-odd Test matches and enjoyed it as much as I have, but I retired at the end of last summer and that stands."