Good contacts are the key to being a good journalist, according to the man who ghost-wrote Andrew Flintoff’s autobiography.

Myles Hodgson, cricket correspondent for the Press Association, was talking to trainee journalists on the MA and Postgraduate Diploma in Newspaper Journalism at the University of Central Lancashire.

He discussed the importance of having good contacts, whether as a cricket writer or a reporter of any description.

And he told them that the key was to have ready access to people, whether they are people in authority or lower down the pecking order.

After outlining his gruelling schedule of writing 4,000 words a day as a cricket correspondent, Myles said the best thing about his job was travelling and getting to know players - while the worst were the hours of work and being away from home a lot.

He also emphasised that reporters, including sports writers, always needed to have a “news head” on as a news story could emerge out of the blue.

As the ghost writer for Andrew Flintoff’s autobiography Being Freddie, he gave some insight into Flintoff’s character, especially the difference between his on-field persona, Freddie - the competitive sportsman, and his off-field persona, Andrew - the family man.