Flower Power

It seems such a shame that a proud and talented man who was able to stand up against the injustice of Robert Mugabe's regime and who took England to the number one spot in world cricket, will end his coaching role with the national side and all that has been built previously, falling apart so badly during this Ashes series. Many coaches in different sports have found it very difficult to keep a team at the top once they have got there.


You could argue that his standing in the England set up started to go downhill when he gave up half of his job to another coach. Relentless schedules, work-life balance and a young family were all cited as reasons behind his decision. As admirable as this may have been it has meant that he was absent from the squad for long periods of time.
Andrew Strauss suggested in his article today that Flower "cared about the players and cared about the support staff". This maybe true but it becomes difficult to be that paternal figure when you are not around 100% of the time. Perhaps 5 years in charge of a national side is as much as any coach can be expected to devote, do coaches have a limited shelf life?


The elephant in the room has obviously been KP despite any attempts by the ECB to suggest otherwise. We often read how Flower was very protective of the team (that's TEAM) environment, but it appears KP would throw a spanner in the works from time to time oblivious to what effect it has. "Textgate" is just one example, and lets not forget that when KP was captain he wanted Flower sacked along with Peter Moores.


I wish Andy Flower all the best in whatever role he will take with ECB and from listening to both current & ex players he is too talented to drift away into a minor role.


Whoever does take the role on they need to decide who will be the core of the team now the break up has begun, they must install Cook with belief to be his own man on the pitch and remove what appears to be a general state of defeatism in the changing room. Good luck to that man.


Thanks for reading and I welcome any comments or thorts' via Twitter @Notsubject


Terry