Flintoff, who entered the ring wearing the shirt of his county cricket club Lancashire, had the better of the exchanges in the opening round, but was knocked to the canvas by the 23-year-old Dawson during the second.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

"I should have caught it, " admitted Colin Flintoff, who still plays club cricket near Preston in Lancashire.

BBC: Flintoff dropped by his dad

The new 25-day, 57-match tournament, which has been proposed by the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), Lancashire, Hampshire and Surrey, provoked scepticism by Russell.

BBC: Russell enraged by Twenty20 plans