Flintoff craftsmen urn big bucks

Always one for restraint and good taste, Andrew Flintoff has found an oh-so-subtle way to remind himself of his Ashes triumphs every day. Flintoff has hired craftsmen to produce six-foot tile mosaics of the Ashes urn, inscribed with the years 2005 and 2009, to go on the bottom of the twin pools he’s having built in the basement of his Cheshire mansion.

News of the World reported the pieces will cost £3000 each, a mere trifle considering Flintoff reportedly bought the former home of the Manchester City manager Mark Hughes for £1.85 million only to demolish the place and fork out £2 million on building a six-bedroom house.

The pools are part of a basement leisure complex that also features a gym, sauna, cinema, bar and a snooker room. Fittingly, Flintoff is building in the village of Mottram St Andrew.