In 2005, cricketer Andrew Flintoff was voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year, beating ytachtswoman Ellen MacArthur into second place and footballer Steven Gerrard into third from a shortlist that also included fellow cricketer Michael Vaughan, boxer Ricky Hatton and tennis player Andy Murray. Flintoff was presented with the trophy by Ian Botham – the last cricketer to win the award, in 1981, after Jim Laker in 1956 and David Steele in 1975 – in Lahore, Pakistan at 03:00 local time.
Flintoff was named Player of the Series for the 2005 Ashes series, in which England eventually beat Australia 2-1, after drawn matches at Old Trafford and at The Oval, to win the coveted urn for the first time since 1986/97. He was named Player of the Match in the Second Test at Edgbaston, which England won by just two runs, and again in the Fourth Test at Trent Bridge, which England won by three wickets.
In the series as a whole, facing an attack that included Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne, Flintoff scored a total of 402 runs – including half centuries in both innings at Edgbaston and a century in the first innings at Trent Bridge – and was England’s leaduing wicket taker, with 24 wickets. Indeed, his Ashes performance was all the more remarkable for the fact that he had only recovered from surgery on his left ankle as recently as the previous April and suffered a further shoulder injury early in the second innings at Edgbaston.
At Edgbaston, Flintoff struck five sixes in his first innings total of 68 and another four in his second innings total of 73, thereby breaking the record for the number of sixes in an Ashes Test set by Bothham back in 1981. Accepting his award from the erstwhile Ashes hero live via satellite link, Flintoff said, “To be involved in the Ashes side that beat the Australians was a great thrill. The way the public got behind us was great and everyone in the side put in a real performance.” Shane Warne, who took 40 wickets in the Ashes series and was named BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year, paid homage to his great rival, saying, “He was outstanding”.