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Freddie Flintoff's Field of Dreams On Tour review: He's lost the cheeky persona, but cricket can still bring back brave Freddie's glow, writes CHRISTOPHER STEVENS

It's this feeling that he was desperate to share with a motley gang of lads from his hometown, Preston, in Lancashire, when he first taught them the game two years ago.

The man we knew of old – the gregarious cheeky joker who entertained us both on the cricket pitch and in television panel games such as A League Of Their Own – has changed dramatically. He seemed at ease only when, in the crowded Indian city of Kolkata, he joined in a game of street cricket or 'gully' – marvelling at the urban rules where hitting a six meant instant dismissal. This began with a hair-raising ride through the teeming Kolkata traffic, before a visit to a meat market where chickens were killed and plucked before their eyes and rats scurried to snatch the leftovers.

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