Tuesday 8 May 2007

The next England coach is...

Andy Flower's appointment as assistant coach, ahead of the largely anonymous Matthew Maynard, is the first sign of Peter Moores making his mark on the wider England coaching set-up. Like Moores, Flower moves from the Academy, where he impressed a great deal of observers; he is a keen student of sports psycology. His appointment highlights the fact that the ECB have become great fans of recruiting from within. Although there is a danger this could lead to a 'closed-shop', as the national side has become of late, both Moores and Flower are worthy coaches and few can argue with their appointments.

Flower has spent five very successful seasons at Essex, so brings with him expert knowledge of the county game; his superb Test career is testament to his mental strength. As a coach, he is known for his flexibility and willingness to listen to the players, and boosts a fine working relationship with Moores. Flower was also an expert player of spin, so will doubtless have some tips for England's batsmen, too often lacking a coherent game-plan against spin.

He is a man of great professionalism and, as illustrated by the black armband he wore at the 2003 World Cup, possesses tremendous courage. In short, his fusion of a life in the game and impressive start to his coaching career mean he is exactly what England need. And there is every chance that it will be Flower who ultimately succeeds Moores.

6 comments:

Nick Gammons said...

Flower's appointment is a very exciting one for England. He was always one of my favourite players - so gritty and a wonderful player of spin bowling. Perhaps, he will also bring some expertise to bear on the thorny issue of England's future wicket-keeper.

Richard Lake said...

It's interesting that England have come off the merry-go-round of international coaches and are trying to develop new talent in this area.

Despite the undoubted quality of Moody, Whatmore or Buchanan, I'm pleased that we went with Moores and also Flower. You don't get ahead of the game by copying other people.

From a keeping point of view, Flower has seen a lot of James Foster. This may turn out to be a good opportunity for him

allrounder said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
allrounder said...

While being ever so slightly irked that Andy's buggered off just when our middle order is looking a bit ropey (Irani aside; TD honorable mention), I think he'll be a great choice for us at HQ.

He had a lovely, unfussy batting technique, and was always excellent to watch; and while we hardly saw him with the gloves at Chelmsford, I'm sure you're right, Nick/Richard, that he'll have a few things to say about the wicket keeping question. Fingers crossed for Fozzy...

Chrispy said...

Top class cricketer and coach no doubt. Can only be good. Can influence the way England play spin, how they negotiate the middle overs in one dayers and how they can build big innings. And of course he will understand the wicket keeping subject! Absolutely fantastic appointment!

Tim said...

Good point Chris - he should help England score at 4.5 an over in the middle without taking silly risks.