Andrew Flintoff still regrets the massive isolation he felt as captain of whitewashed England on a shambolic Ashes tour which turned into a "booze cruise".

In his updated autobiography 'Ashes to Ashes', serialised in the Daily Mail, thirty-one-year-old Flintoff - who retired from Test cricket after England regained the Ashes from Australia at the Oval last month and has since undergone surgery on his chronic knee injury - reflects on a career of notable highs and lows, few more uncomfortable than the tour Down Under in 2006/07.

"I was the captain of a team heading for a 5-0 Ashes whitewash," he remembers, having taken the job on because of Michael Vaughan's own absence through injury. "Relationships were becoming strained, which I suppose is only natural given the situation we were in - but the most upsetting thing for me was how few people offered to help."

He added: "Steve Harmison, my good friend, was great - and I knew I could rely on him - but a bit of extra support would have been nice.

"I felt massively isolated. The problems had really started when we were defeated in Adelaide to go 2-0 down. I was in a bit of a muddle and didn't really know how to get out of it."

His frustrations came to a head after the Ashes were gone - and as well as resorting to alcohol, Flintoff admits at one point taking his anger out on his own cricket equipment.

"My head had gone, probably with what had happened in the Ashes. The frustration was bubbling inside of me. I exploded," he writes. "My bat was leaning against the bench in the dressing room, and I put my foot through it and broke it - not the most intelligent thing to do."

Flintoff's next mistake was to head for the bar - much to then coach Duncan Fletcher's annoyance.

"The upshot was I turned up for nets the next day not in the best of shape, although I wouldn't say I was as bad as Duncan Fletcher has said I was," he adds. "I'm not going to try to make excuses because I know I shouldn't have arrived for training smelling of booze. It was unprofessional but it was indicative of my state of mind at the time.

"I wasn't the only one, I hasten to add, and it wasn't just the players - most of the support staff were at it more than we were. It was like being on a booze cruise."