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Andy Flower

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Andy Flower

OBE
Personal information
Full name
Andrew Flower
Born (1968-04-28) 28 April 1968 (age 56)
Cape Town, Cape Province, South Africa
NicknamePetals; Flower Power (along with brother Grant)
Height5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
BattingLeft-handed
BowlingRight-arm off break
RoleWicket-keeper
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 6)18 October 1992 v India
Last Test16 November 2002 v Pakistan
ODI debut (cap 20)23 February 1992 v Sri Lanka
Last ODI15 March 2003 v Sri Lanka
ODI shirt no.33
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1993/94–2002/03Mashonaland
2002–2006Essex
2003/04South Australia
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA
Matches 63 213 223 380
Runs scored 4,794 6,786 16,379 12,511
Batting average 51.54 35.34 54.05 38.97
100s/50s 12/27 4/55 49/75 12/97
Top score 232* 145 271* 145
Balls bowled 3 30 629 132
Wickets 0 0 7 1
Bowling average – – 38.57 103.00
5 wickets in innings – – 0 0
10 wickets in match – – 0 0
Best bowling – – 1/1 1/21
Catches/stumpings 151/9 141/32 361/21 254/48
Source: Cricinfo, 13 November 2007

Andrew Flower OBE (born 28 April 1968) is a Zimbabwean cricket coach and former cricketer. Currently he is working as the head coach of Multan Sultans[1] and St Lucia Zouks[2] and also as the assistant coach of King's XI Punjab.[3] As a cricketer, he captained the Zimbabwe national cricket team. He was Zimbabwe's wicket-keeper for more than 10 years and statistically by far the finest batsman the country has produced.

He was, as well, the former England cricket coach. The Mirror has reported that Flower has become a British citizen.[4]

Playing career

Flower was born in Cape Town, South Africa,[5] and starting from his high school days at Oriel Boys' High School and Vainona High School played most of his career alongside his younger brother Grant Flower. He is considered to be one of the best wicket-keeper batsmen, alongside players such as Australian Adam Gilchrist.[6] Flower made his international debut in a One Day International against Sri Lanka at New Plymouth, New Zealand, in the 1992 Cricket World Cup. A good player of spin, he made 550 runs in a Test series against India in 2000/01. This tally came in just four innings and he was only dismissed twice. He is one of the few players to score a century on ODI debut.

Flower played 63 Test matches for Zimbabwe, scoring 4,794 runs at an average of 51.54 and taking 151 catches and 9 stumpings, and 213 One Day Internationals, scoring 6,786 runs at an average of 35.34 and taking 141 catches and 32 stumpings. He holds the Zimbabwean records for the most Test career runs, the highest Test batting average, and most ODI career runs. He is the only Zimbabwean in the ICC's Top 100 All-time Test Batting rankings at number 31 (November 2013), putting him in the company of Brian Lara (ranked 23), Sachin Tendulkar (29), Steve Waugh (equal 31 with Flower on 895 points) and Rahul Dravid (33).

His aggregate score of 341 in the first Test against South Africa in 2001 is the second highest ever by a batsman on the losing side.[7]

Andy Flower is also the only player to score an ODI hundred on debut in a world cup match.[8] He also has the record for the most matches (149) to score his second ODI ton after scoring a century on debut, when he did it in only in his 150th ODI.

Andy Flower's career performance graph. The red bars indicate the player's test match innings, while the blue line shows the average of the ten most recent innings at that point

He also holds the record for the highest ever test score posted by a wicketkeeper batsman in an innings of a test (232*).[9]

He along with Heath Streak set the record for the highest 7th wicket partnership for Zimbabwe in ODIs (130)[10]

Black armband

Towards the end of his career, Flower achieved international recognition when he and teammate Henry Olonga wore black armbands during the 2003 Cricket World Cup match against Namibia to protest against Robert Mugabe's policies.[11] He and Olonga released a statement on 10 February, stating in part:

In all the circumstances, we have decided that we will each wear a black armband for the duration of the World Cup. In doing so we are mourning the death of democracy in our beloved Zimbabwe. In doing so we are making a silent plea to those responsible to stop the abuse of human rights in Zimbabwe. In doing so, we pray that our small action may restore sanity and dignity to our Nation.

This act led to pressure from Zimbabwe's government and Flower's retirement from Zimbabwean cricket. He later played an English county cricket season for Essex and an Australian domestic season for South Australia.

Coaching career

On 7 May 2007, Flower was appointed Assistant Coach of the England team, replacing Matthew Maynard. The Zimbabwean joined up with Peter Moores and the rest of the squad for the first Test match against the West Indies at Lord's on 17 May 2007. Upon his appointment to this role with the ECB, Flower, having not played that season due to injury, ended his playing spell at Essex, bringing his playing career to a close.

On 15 April 2009, following England's Caribbean tour, for which he was installed as interim team director following the departure of Peter Moores, he was appointed full-time team director.[12] In the Summer of 2009, during his tenure as team director, England won The Ashes, beating Australia by two Test matches to one. In May 2010, they won the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 tournament in the West Indies. In November–January 2010/2011 England won the Ashes in Australia by three Test matches to one.

Flower was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2011 Birthday Honours for services to sport.[13][14]

On 13 August 2011 Flower led the England cricket team to become the number one ranked team in terms of test playing countries.[15] On 22 December 2011, he was awarded the 2011 Coach of the Year in the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards.

He also successfully led England to Ashes victory in July–August 2013 winning the test series 3–0.

A major blip in his coaching career was the 5–0 drubbing by Australia in November–January 2013 – 2014 Ashes series. On 31 January 2014, Flower stepped down as head coach, a position he had held for five years. From March 2014, he continued his employment with the England and Wales Cricket Board as its 'Technical Director of Elite Coaching',[16] a role that has involved mentoring English county coaches and looking at best practice in coaching and performance in other organisations.[17] Since July 2014, this role has also encompassed him being head coach of the England Lions team,[18][19] most recently leading the side on an ODI tour of the UAE in January 2016.[20] Later in 2016 he was appointed batting coach of Peshawar Zalmi.[21]

He was appointed as head coach for Multan Sultans

He was appointed as Assistant coach for Kings XI Punjab

He was appointed as head coach for St Lucia Zouks

Charity

In September 2007, Flower became an Ambassador for the children's charity, Hope for Children, and has assisted in raising thousands of pounds for needy children in Zimbabwe and around the world.[22] In July 2011, Flower became an Ambassador for the malignant melanoma support group, Melanoma UK, having suffered from the illness himself. He underwent surgery to remove a melanoma from his right eye in 2010. In the summer of 2012 Andy agreed to undertake another term as Ambassador to Melanoma UK. Having run the marathon in April 2012 Andy said “It wasn’t a hard decision for me to continue in my role as Ambassador to Melanoma UK. They do an excellent job in patient support, fund raising and raising awareness of the dangers of the sun. I wish them continued success in the coming years and who knows, another marathon might be on the cards!”[23]

Personal life

Flower met his wife Rebecca, who is English, when playing in England. They have three children. He has spoken about the adverse impact of time away from his family due to his cricket career.[24][25][26]

References

  1. ^ [1]
  2. ^ "Andy Flower named St Lucia Zouks head coach after Kings XI Punjab tie-up". ESPNcricinfo. 9 March 2020. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  3. ^ "Andy Flower appointed assistant coach in Kings XI Punjab overhaul". ESPNcricinfo. 7 March 2020. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  4. ^ "Mirror interview"
  5. ^ "Born in one country, played for another". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  6. ^ Dhruv Rupani. "Top 10 Wicketkeeper Batsmen of all Time". Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  7. ^ "Most runs in a match on the losing side". ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  8. ^ "Records | One-Day Internationals | Batting records | Hundred on debut | ESPN Cricinfo". ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  9. ^ "Records | Test matches | Batting records | Most runs in an innings by a wicketkeeper | ESPN Cricinfo". ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  10. ^ "Cricket Records | Records | / | Zimbabwe | One-Day Internationals | Highest partnerships by wicket | ESPN Cricinfo". ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  11. ^ "Andy Flower & Henry Olonga: the 'death of democracy' remembered". BBC Sport. 7 February 2013. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  12. ^ "ECB appoint Flower as team director". 15 April 2009. Archived from the original on 8 July 2011. Retrieved 15 April 2009.
  13. ^ "No. 59808". The London Gazette (Supplement). 11 June 2011. p. 10.
  14. ^ "Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook lead Birthday Honours list". BBC. 10 June 2011. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  15. ^ "England beat India to become world number one Test side"
  16. ^ "Andy Flower takes up new ECB role as technical director". BBC Sport. 3 March 2014. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  17. ^ Scyld Berry (5 July 2014). "Former England coach Andy Flower finds peace coaching local cricket club after traumatic Ashes winter". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  18. ^ Alan Gardner (24 July 2014). "Flower to coach strong Lions team". ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  19. ^ Will Macpherson (14 September 2015). "Steve Rhodes in frame for England Lions role". ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  20. ^ Will Carpenter (20 January 2016). "CRICKET: Overton injury disappoints Lions coach Andy Flower". Somerset County Gazette. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  21. ^ Ali, Sarah. "Peshawar Zalmi". HBL Pakistan Super League. Archived from the original on 3 February 2016. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  22. ^ Our patrons, archived from the original on 18 December 2014, retrieved 17 December 2014
  23. ^ Melanoma UK, retrieved 1 November 2017
  24. ^ https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/cricket/how-andy-flower-is-putting-himself-113738
  25. ^ https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/cricket/flower-happy-to-see-england-flourish-in-the-here-and-now-2305520.html
  26. ^ https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/53597318
Preceded by Zimbabwean national cricket captain
1993/4-5/6 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Zimbabwean national cricket captain
1999/2000-2000 		Succeeded by
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