Andy Flower: The Man to Help England Blossom

After what must have been an extensive, exhausting, and soul-crushing global search, the ECB’s head-hunters Odgers Ray and Berndtson returned some quite startling suggestions.

Oh no wait, they didn’t.

One can sympathise somewhat with the ECB for treading on egg-shells after the embarrassment of the Moores-Pietersen fiasco, but assigning a crack team of recruitment specialists to search a pool as small as top level cricket coaching might have been taking things a little too far.

The list was predictable and equated to nothing more than a handful of the most celebrated names in the business. You can hardly criticise Messrs Odgers, Ray or Berndtson for that.

Whatever you think about the England cricket team, the job of coaching them is still arguably the most prestigious, and certainly the most financially rewarding, in world cricket.   However, once the likes of Australians John Buchanan and Tom Moody and Kent’s South African coach John Ford had ruled themselves out, the list was even more academic.

The current incumbent of the Proteas job Mickey Arthur was believed to be interested but has now ruled himself out. Of the others shortlisted, Andy Flower looks likely to have his brief and so far temporary reign made permanent.

In spite of England’s defeat in the recent Test Series, Flower has been quietly impressive in his role as coach. Indeed, the subsequent victory in the one-day series may well prove to be the decisive factor in determining whether Flower is to become England’s new "team director".

Traditionally, the English media and general public take little heed of results in the shorter form of the game (save perhaps during World Cup years), but winning the series, particularly following an embarrassing mauling in the third game in Barbados, has further enhanced Flower’s burgeoning reputation as an international coach.

The Zimbabwean showed his tougher side after defeat, cancelling a day off and calling the squad in for some "naughty boy nets". England were able to turn the series on its head, winning the final two games comfortably.

Ironically, considering his role in the downfall of Peter Moores, one of Flower’s biggest admirers appears to be Kevin Pietersen, whose desire to work with someone experienced in the international game worked against Moores.

The same can certainly not be held against Flower, whose performances with the bat whilst captaining and keeping wicket for Zimbabwe in the 90s and the early part of this century were nothing short of remarkable.

There will be some who argue, with a degree of cogency, against a second successive internal appointment to the top job but in my opinion Flower commands enough respect from the players to brush aside his association with the catastrophic reign of Moores.

Moores was performing the difficult task of taking over from Duncan Fletcher, England’s most hegemonic coach since the dark days of Raymond Illingworth and from the start appeared to struggle to impose his authority on the dressing room.

Hopefully, Flower will be able to learn from being a part of the setup during the whole charade and avoid any similar problems.

The captain Andrew Strauss has urged the ECB to make a decision soon. With such a hectic summer ahead of them, the risk of bringing in a new face so close to the Ashes may prove to be the decisive factor in retaining the current coach.

It is important to remember that this is far from the kind of depression Fletcher inherited in 1999. England may have lost three consecutive series, but with more luck and incisiveness they could have won all three.

Should Flower get the job then he has a talented group to work with and an enviable opportunity to become a highly successful coach.