There has been intense speculation over India’s next coach. On Tuesday, the speculation reached England. The English media corroborated DNA reports that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is eyeing England’s present or past coaches — Andy Flower and Duncan Fletcher.
As a result, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), which is determined to hold on to Flower after he guided the national team to the Ashes and World Twenty20 triumphs, is doing all it can to prevent the former Zimbabwe captain from being lured by India. “Andy Flower has been offered a new three-year contract as the England and Wales Cricket Board attempts to head off any moves for their highly rated coach from India,” the report said.
“Telegraph Sport understands Flower is due to meet Hugh Morris, the managing director of the England team, at the end of the month to discuss his long-term future and the direction of the England set-up. It is thought that Flower is on a rolling staff contract which offers the same protection rights as any other full-time employee.”
Flower, who went on holiday after England were knocked out in the quarterfinals of the World Cup, has been non-committal about his future. Messages from this paper have remained unanswered.
After the Ashes series, Flower had said that “personally I don’t look much further forward than a few months”.
Like ECB, even the English players are keen to have Flower for another term. “I can’t sing his praises highly enough,” said wicketkeeper Matt Prior.
“He has been fantastic. The main thing I love about Andy is he is honest. He is a good human being. There are no politics. He just wants to win. Any decision he makes is because he thinks it gives England the best chance of winning.
“There is nothing else to him. That is really important. The other thing is he backs his players 100 per cent. To walk out on the pitch knowing your coach is backing you and giving you that support and responsibility to know and trust your game is huge,” he added.
The BCCI did not do anything to prevent further speculation. “The media can speculate. We have nothing to do with it,” a top BCCI official said. There was more speculation on Tuesday with some in the know of things suggesting the name of Robin Singh as an interim coach for India’s tour of the West Indies in June.
