London: He may very well be called the unsung hero of England’s Ashes win and as the English players celebrated over their Ashes win over Australia, one man decided to quietly be in the background — England coach, Andy Flower.

Andy Flower took charge of a battered England team with England cricket probably at its lowest ebb after the sacking of coach Peter Moores and Kevin Pietersen stepping down as captain. Eight months later, he is being credited for making a team of different individuals into one cohesive unit which went on to win arguably the biggest test series in cricket.

Flower, though, didn’t want to take the attention away from his players, so shortly after Andrew Strauss picked up the urn he returned to be with his fellow coaches and reflect in his own, quiet, private way. It was fitting because Flower has never been one for shows of excitement and celebration.

“It’s great, we are very proud of ourselves,” he said. “I’ve learnt a hell of a lot. I don’t want to bore you with the details, I’d bore myself, but it’s been great fun. It’s a great challenge and I’m proud to have been given the responsibility of the position and now we have to move it forward.”

The hallmark of Flower’s eight-month tenure as coach has been his calmness in the face of a crisis – and there have been quite a few of them! His first Test as in charge ended with England bowled out for 51 and two weeks ago he had to contend with the embarrassment of a shocking defeat at Headingley. On each occasion the harsh talking has been done behind closed doors, while in public Flower has always spoken honestly, but with an air of control.

“Leeds was quite a blow. It was a bit of a shock playing like that,” he admitted. “But we got together after that game, before we all dispersed, and talked about it. I think we needed to get some closure on that game there and then, before we all disappeared to various parts of the country. The guys had a good look at themselves, and you could see the commitment and determination that they brought to the final Test.”

“He’s brought a bit of toughness with him,” Stuart Broad said after taking his Ashes-defining 5 for 37 on Friday. “You saw that throughout his playing career. To average over 50 as a wicket-keeper batsman was special. He’s also a relaxed character, so that can rub off on players. I enjoyed working with him on my batting when he was an assistant coach and he’s done a fantastic job since he’s taken over.”

These qualities will serve Flower well in the coming days and months, because now the biggest part of his task is keeping England focused on the task ahead.

“The guys will be fine, watching them last night they were fine,” Flower said. “They are pretty mature and they haven’t got time to rest on their laurels. We are off the Ireland tomorrow and we will start the hard work again. It’s worked out okay. You don’t want to go overboard. Three days ago we were bowled out for 300 and if we hadn’t bowled them out for 160 in the first dig we would be saying very different things.”

When Flower was first given the responsibility of coaching England on an interim basis for the West Indies tour, England didn’t have much stability. He said he would have to think about taking the role full-time, but when the squad returned from the Caribbean Flower knew, despite the series defeat, that it was a challenge he wanted, having formed a strong bond with Andrew Strauss.

“We knew it would be hard but when I took the job I was thinking about very small chunks of time,” he said. “Consolidating things in West Indies was the first thing we had to do. It helps a lot having a leader like Strauss around. He has been a rock around which the team has built innings and also he has shown very strong leadership on and off the field.”

“We put down a few guidelines and principles around which we wanted to build the unit in the first instance because there are various steps we want to go through to make us a better team. I don’t really want to go through the details but the guys have embraced them,” he said.

Tagged with: Andrew Strauss, Andy Flower, Ashes, England, Kevin Pietersen, London, Peter Moores, Stuart Broad, West Indies

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