Cricket legend Andy Flower says Zimbabwe’s recent struggles in international cricket are due to the failure of the domestic game’s leaders to create a conducive environment for local cricketers to flourish.
Arguably the country’s finest ever cricketer, Flower was the poster boy of Zimbabwe cricket’s golden generation in the 90s and was recognised for his contribution to the game by being inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame in June.
After the success of the 1990s to early 2000s, Zimbabwe have struggled to live to the early promise due to a myriad of challenges. Flower however believes the blame should be put squarely on those who have been entrusted to run the domestic game.
“Zimbabwe are right there, but there has been a steady drain of players from the country,” Flower said in an interview with Gulf News in Abu Dhabi on Friday.“Another problem is that the right conditions are not there. There’s no proper cricket structure for cricketers to develop. And the blame for that should go to the cricket board,” Flower said.
Flower scored 4,794 runs with 12 centuries in a Test career spanning ten years. Over the years, the Zimbabwean accumulated a wealth of cricketing knowledge that came in handy as a coach. He was associated with the England and Wales Cricket Board for over 12 years in various coaching capacities.
After that, Flower has been traversing the T20 circuit around the world, coaching several teams. He is the coach of Multan Sultans in the Pakistan Super League and the St Lucia Zouks in the Caribbean Premier League. He was a consultant to Afghanistan in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
He was recently batting consultant of the Afghanistan cricket team at the T20 World Cup. Now, Flower brings all that experience to the UAE as coach of the Delhi Bulls in the Abu Dhabi T10 League that starts on November 20.
