3 min readJul 12, 2026 09:13 PM IST
With Brendon McCullum sacked as England Test team coach, Andy Flower is emerging as a front-runner to replace him according to reports. The former Zimbabwe captain, who coached England previously, is currently busy as T20 coach in the franchise circuit, most notably with Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
However, should Flower take up the red-ball duties with England, reports say he would be allowed to continue coaching in the IPL. According to Daily Mail, Flower is likely to take up the job only if he is allowed to carry on with his T20 gigs, particularly the IPL.
Flower has been the head coach of England before from 2009 to 2014 during which time they won their first T20 World Cup in 2010 and won the Ashes Down Under in 2012. But after a whitewash in 2014, he ended up losing the job. “For me, the best person for that would be Andy Flower by a country mile. Flower took England to number one in the world,” former England captain Nasser Hussain told V2 Radio.
“I love Flower’s approach to coaching – he was meticulous in everything that he did. That’s what’s been lacking in this England Test match side.”I would do anything if I was Rob Key and the ECB to go and get Andy Flower,” Hussain added.
Flower’s next assignment is at The Hundred, where he is in charge of London Spirits alongside Dinesh Karthik with whom he delivered two successive titles for RCB in 2025 and 2026. With a Test series against Pakistan set to take place in August 19, the England and Wales Cricket Board has only a month to appoint the next head coach.
According to The Independent, should they look beyond Flower then their options are limited when it comes to experienced coaches. Former all-rounder Andrew Flintoff, who is in charge of the England Lions, is seen as a potential candidate. Then there is former batsman Jonathan Trott, who played a key role in the emergence of Afghanistan as a strong white-ball force. After stepping down as coach of Afghanistan at the T20 World Cup, he had expressed his willingness to coach England.
