Two of my favourite English players who also were captains and then relieved of captaincy for being free spirited , not staid , stiff upper lips but normal people ... Flintoff and Pietersen.
Can't imagine how effective he has been.3 Ashes wins,the T20 world cup,series win in India and still owing to a small falter,he is being sacked.?.I read the news that Ashley Giles will be the interim coach,Although i don't under estimate his skills,i doubt his rapport building skills.He might find it tough for the time-being as techniques and coaching differ.
I have no idea how this is supposed to "help". Flower's been quality, and he's lifted England from nowhere. And they're going through a rough patch and he's discarded? Jesus Christ.
Typical innit, Ashes deciding the fate of people, as usual. Doesn't matter what the past was like. And not long before Cook gets the axe as well, I'd think.
Was listening to Vaughan yesterday and he was suggesting the players had become scared of Flower which I find amazing. He always seemed to support the players freedom to have down time, relax and have a pint or two.
He did not court the media and rarely gave interviews and when he did, he was measured and very balanced.
We rose to number 1 and have been in the top 2-3 for some time now, until the Australian debacle.
Trotts' leaving the tour really did seem to undermine this team and Cooky was not the greatest at times as Skipper.
I cannot imagine he was sacked after this one failure. He is a dignified man and he probably felt well I cannot do anymore, let someone else have a go.
If Gilo's chopping and changing the team, as he did in the ODI and T20 series, is a sig of things to come then we are back to teh bad old days.
One of the things Flower did was persevere with players and under Flower, Bell flourished as he was close to the chope despite his vast abilities.
Flower cannot go out there and bat for the team but if Vaughan is correct then perhaps it is time for a change.
