England and Wales Cricket Board has sacked Brendon McCullum from the role of Test head coach, with Andy Flower in the race to replace the former New Zealand captain. However, there is a condition for Flower, as per the reports, that he is not interested in taking up the head coach role if he has to leave the franchise job.
As per the reports from The i Paper on Sunday, the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is keen to recruit Andy Flower after sacking Brendon McCullum as Test coach. But the Zimbabwean is not happy to leave the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) role, as he won back-to-back IPL wins with the side and other franchise team roles.
Can Andy Flower bring England’s lost glory in Test cricket?
During his tenure as head coach, the Three Lions had their best times as Flower led the side to No 1 in the Test rankings in 2011 and won series wins in Australia and India. He understands the pulse and knows what the team needs and brings out the best from every player.
However, he does not want to cut ties with RCB in the IPL or London Spirit in The Hundred. This is why ECB chief executive Richard Gould revealed on Sunday that the governing body is willing to be flexible and enable any new coach to continue working in franchise cricket while coaching England. But the former Zimbabwe captain has not completely ruled himself out.
ECB facing obstacles to appoint Andy Flower as new Test head coach
The ECB is considering whether he can work with the governing body yet again, as he worked in a wider role as a pathway coach after stepping down from the Test role in 2014, which may also be helpful. Now the ECB needs to overcome some obstacles to appoint Andy Flower as the head coach of the Test team yet again.
Flower, who earns more than £500,000 per year for three months’ work across both franchise RCB and London Spirit, who are sister franchises in different tournaments. He would be unable to step down as London Spirit coach this summer to take over the Test team as the Hundred begins just three days before the start of England’s first Test against Pakistan at Headingley.
Why can’t Andy Flower and Brendon McCullum work together?
Apart from that, the ECB needs to wait till winter to appoint him, but there is some other obstacle as well, with the IPL 2027 auction expected to happen during the third week of December when England are touring in a three-Test series in South Africa, with the first game to start on 17 December and is likely to clash with the IPL auction.
The key problem will be the working relationship with Rob Key, who has survived as director of cricket, and McCullum, who remains the head coach of the white-ball side. As McCullum and Andy Flower have very different coaching styles, with the latter paying meticulous attention to detail and demanding that everything be exactly right.
