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9 hours ago
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Andy Flower has ruled himself out of the running to take over as the next coach of England’s Test team to prolong the England and Wales Cricket Board’s search for Brendon McCullum’s replacement.
Flower, who was understood to be the first-choice candidate, had a number of conversations with figures at the ECB this week, including Rob Key, the managing director of men’s cricket who is leading the search. However, he has informed them that he is not interested in giving up his roles at Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the Indian Premier League and with London Spirit in the Hundred, and that he does not consider it feasible to combine them with an international coaching job.
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“The bottom line for me is that I’m very happy in the work that I am doing at the moment,” Flower said. “I work for a couple of really good organisations. I’ve got really good teams around me, and I’m really comfortable with what I’m doing.
“I’ve worked with England before, I had an amazing time when I had the privilege to represent England as one of their leaders, and I remember those years really fondly. It would be a privilege for me or anyone else to be the Test coach. But for me at this time, I’m really comfortable with what I’m doing and I’m going to stick with that.”
The former Australia batter and coach Justin Langer, now coaching Lucknow Super Giants, is believed to have moved towards the top of the ECB’s thinking. But Flower believes it would be difficult for any coach to combine an IPL job with such a post as time-consuming as England’s.
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“I can’t speak for other people and it wouldn’t be right for me to speak for the ECB, obviously, they’ll have to make their own judgments,” Flower said. “For me personally, I don’t think I could have done both. Especially with the IPL being held during the first couple of months of the English summer. If I was England’s Test coach I’d like to be here, watching and interacting with the people I need to watch and interact with. So for me, that wasn’t a possibility.”
