Former England captain Andrew Flintoff has revealed that he showed signs of depression during his tenure as the nation's skipper.

Flintoff was an England hero during their Ashes win in 2005, but suffered a 5-0 whitewash to Australia as captain eighteen months later.

The all-rounder believes that this defeat, along with the media attention caused by several off-field incidents, led to months of despair.

"On that trip I was probably at an all-time low both personally and professionally," the 34-year-old says in upcoming BBC programme Hidden Side Of Sport.

"It was hard for me to speak about it to people, even in the dressing room.

"I didn't read any of the press and I'm glad, because I was feeling so low that if I'd have read that at the time it might have tipped me over the edge."

The cricketer, affectionately nicknamed "Freddie", retired from international cricket in 2009 following injury problems.