Andy Flower
Former Zimbabwe cricketer Andy Flower has renewed his contract with the ECB to remain in the capacity of the England team Director. He now dons this role a permanent contract, which is something which he had been offered back in 2009, but he refused at that stage.
Within the two years that Flower has held this post, England has done significantly well, with two Ashes to their name as well as the ICC T20 World Cup 2010 that was played in the West Indies. England also raised to third place in the Test Rankings form the sixth position, whilst they have climbed one spot to the fifth in the ICC ODI Rankings.
Flower said that he was happy to have been given the responsibility of taking the team further and was hoping “to build on the considerable progress we have made to date as a squad and remain fully committed to developing the side and ensuring we are in a position to realise our objective of becoming the number one side in the world.”
He also says that back in 2009, when he had joined the team first, he had hoped to “create a winning England team” and to some extent he was “very pleased with the advances we have made as a squad over the last two years in all formats of the game.”
He also says that regaining the Ashes in 2009 and last winter as well as the T20 cup are the shining moments of his tenure so far.
Further he accepts that becoming the number one side in the world, has remained and shall remain their goal of the team and that they have never shied away from accepting that upfront.
He conclude his statement by saying that he would be testing his sides’ quality in the summer when England play against two quality teams in the form of Sri Lanka and India. England plays three test matches, a T20 and an ODI series against Sri Lanka with a similar schedule against India as well. They also play an ODI against Ireland in between the series against India.
The Managing Director of England cricket, Mr. Hugh Morris acknowledged Flower’s contribution to English cricket in the capacity of director and said that “Andy’s outstanding leadership, commitment, and his open and honest approach have been key factors in the success the England squad has enjoyed over the last two years and I have no doubt that under his direction we will continue to see England improve as we strive to become the number one side in the world in all formats of the game.”
Tags: Andy Flower, Coach, Cricket, ECB, England, English Cricket
