With wife Rachel expecting a child on March 20, Andrew Flintoff made it clear that he would prefer to take a paternity leave even if that means leaving the England squad midway their series against India.
Flintoff already has a daughter and Rachel is due to give birth to another child on March 20, in the middle of the third and final and potentially the series-decider Test slated for March 18-22 in Mumbai.
"It's something you desperately want to be at home for," Flintoff told BBC Five Live.
"I'm just going to have to play it by ear a little bit. If it's mid-Test there's not a lot I can do," he said.
England opener Andrew Strauss recently missed the third Test in Pakistan to be with wife Ruth for the birth of their first child even though it was criticised by Ian Botham, who missed the births of his two daughters and could be with his wife when son Liam was born only because of an injury that did not allow him to play.
Flintoff is expected to get the support of his skipper Michael Vaughan who left early during play in a home Test match against New Zealand for the birth of his daughter Tallulah Grace in a Leeds hospital and more recently flew home for the birth of his second child with another purpose of visiting a specialist for an injured knee.
{{/usCountry}}Flintoff is expected to get the support of his skipper Michael Vaughan who left early during play in a home Test match against New Zealand for the birth of his daughter Tallulah Grace in a Leeds hospital and more recently flew home for the birth of his second child with another purpose of visiting a specialist for an injured knee.
{{/usCountry}}Traditionally, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has relented in such cases and paternity leave is now incorporated in the central contracts as well.
Flintoff had earlier missed a one-dayer in 2004 for the birth of his daughter Holly.