England team director Andy Flower has left his role following the 5-0 Ashes whitewash by Australia.
Appointed in 2009, Flower led England to three successive Ashes series victories but has paid the price for their disastrous showing down under.
bbc
The England and Wales Cricket Board was expected to make an announcement on Flower’s future next week but the news has leaked out earlier than planned.
The post is expected to be advertised, with Ashley Giles a possible candidate.
Giles, England’s one-day and Twenty20 coach, is likely to get a chance to stake his claim during England’s tour of West Indies in February and March, with former South Africa and India coach Gary Kirsten another potential contender.
Flower, 45, did not fly out to Sri Lanka with the England Performance Squad earlier this month and had departed following a review of the series with the ECB.
The former Zimbabwe wicket-keeper batsman helped steer England to number one in the world Test rankings in August 2011 following a 4-0 home victory over India.
His team completed their third consecutive Ashes series victory with a 3-0 home win over Australia in the summer of 2013 but despite arriving down under as favourites this winter, they were heavily beaten in all five Tests and have now slipped to fourth in the rankings.
Following the final Test in Sydney, Flower said it was the “end of an era” for England.
He later denied he had issued an ultimatum that he would leave unless batsman Kevin Pietersen was dropped.
Flower also coached England to their first global limited-overs success at the 2010 Twenty20 World Cup.
In November 2012, he handed over responsibility for the England one-day and Twenty20 teams to Giles but remained in charge of the Test side, overseeing their first series win in India since 1984.
Flower had two stints as Zimbabwe captain during a decade-long international career in which he established himself as a world-class batsman and wicketkeeper, scoring 12 centuries, and averaging 51.54 in 63 Tests.
After quitting the international arena, Flower dedicated himself to county cricket and Essex, where he played for five seasons between 2002 and 2006.
Sad news – I liked Flower. I guess every one has its ups and downs. But when you’re coach, it needs to be up or else…
Good luck to anyone taking up that position. Really hope it’s not Gary.
So, Andy’s FLOWER has wilted… hehehe
1 @ Blue Traveller:
Hi Blue Traveller yes I have to agree that it is a pity that Flower is gone. It is just a knee jerk reaction symptomatic of the time of instant success requirements that we live in. Especially If you look at all he achieved with England and then to be away after one awful tour down under seems tough, folk are quick to forget they beat Aus 3-0 in the first leg of the Ashes. With a few senior players coming to the end of their careers, particularly former captain Strauss there needed to be patience. Also too many of the senior guys seemed out of form and the two BIG losses for me in this season was that of Jonathan Trott who sadly is not well and probably was already showing signs of this during the first part of the Ashes in 2013 in England, and then the loss of form of match winner spinner Swan. I suppose the one thing you could have criticized Andy Flower on was team selection, with all the guys that were out of form he should have brought in others sooner, guys like Ballance and Stokes surely would have done no worse and would have gained some experience, even if it was ultimately in a losing cause if they could have gone down with more fight there may have been another view taken of the tour. He should maybe also have given Finn more game time down under to try and be more aggressive. We don’t know what has been going on behind the scenes so guess there is no sense in speculating whether Flower still had the support of the players.
@ Blue Traveller:
One thing that would puzzle me is if Gary Kirsten was to join up with England as it had been reported when Kirsten left the Proteas that it was to spend more time with his family. Who knows where the rumours come from but if we look at England rugby and the path they chose going with local man who was in the system Stuart Lancaster instead of Nick Mallet you have to think that Ashley Giles must be favourite to get the job if he wants it.
Although, I think it was obviously going to happen, it was still a shock to see Flower depart. It is also obvious that there is something seriously amiss in the England dressing room at the moment – Trott departing early, Swann retiring and the recurring Pieterson story not helping the situation, but it goes deeper than that. Flower has certainly proven himself over the last 5 years to be a very competent coach, and for once, I just don’t think the blame should be laid at his door (or at the door of the assistants). It seems to me to be a team issue. In fighting, lack of brief, lackk of a strong leader, I don’t know.
What I do know, is that I wouldn’t want to be a coach taking over right now from Flower, so I hope it is not Gary who does. Let the team members sort out their problems first.
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