THE third innings of Freddie Flintoff’s Field of Dreams will follow a very similar format to the first two series – but there’ll be one major difference.
The first outing of the BBC One documentary saw the Ashes hero take a group of adolescent boys from Preston and transform them into something close to a team.
Freddie will work the same magic on another gaggle of teenagers from his home city on the new show – but I can exclusively reveal they will all be girls this time round.
A TV insider said: “Freddie didn’t see why the young women in Preston shouldn’t get the same chances as the boys, particularly as more and more female teams are popping up across the country.
“After all, the whole point of the show is to provide equal opportunities and use the sport to help people regardless of their background. So why should gender be a barrier?”
I exclusively revealed there’d be a third series of Field of Dreams last April.
Filming of the show has just started, and the finished product is expected to drop later this year on BBC One.
There’s also scope for a fourth series of the show where the girls get the same treat the boys received, and are taken to a foreign country where the population is also cricket mad.
Last year, that saw the boys head to India, but their female counterparts are likely to be taken to another destination where the sport is just as popular.
Freddie is looking at a very busy year in 2025. He’s already committed to a series of Bullseye for ITV, plus he has his warts-and-all documentary for Disney+ about his recovery from his devastating Top Gear crash coming up.
All this at a time when he claimed he wanted to spend more time cricket coaching and less time making TV shows.
At least he gets to do both this way – with a little help from some Preston girl power.
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