|
|
by IANS |
London, April 21 (IANS) Former England spinner Monty Panesar has called upon the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to re-appoint former chief coach, Zimbabwe's Andy Flower, in a bid to revive the flagging fortunes of the Test side.
Chris Silverwood had stepped down as the England chief coach in the wake of the 0-4 thrashing in the Ashes, while Joe Root quit the Test captaincy after another series loss, this time a 0-1 defeat in the Caribbean in the three-Test series.
Even as England look for a suitable candidate for the head coach's job, Panesar, who took 167 Test wickets in 50 outings, felt that his country's board should look at the 53-year-old Flower who coached the side between 2009 and 2014, guiding them to emerge the No. 1-ranked Test team in the world.
The Zimbabwean left-hand batter-cum-wicketkeeper oversaw England's win in the Ashes away from home for the first time in 24 years.
England's performance in Test cricket has been abysmal of late, winning just one of their last 17 games and failing to clinch any of their last five series for the first time ever in their history, according to mirror.co.uk.
With Rob Key being appointed as England Men's Cricket managing director, Panesar feels that bringing in the 63-Test veteran could do the job for the country's cricket.
"When Andy Flower was England coach, it was the only time in the history of English cricket the team gained number 1 Test status. IMO bring him back, he will know how to build an English team and bring success to England #England #EnglandCricketTeam #BenStokes #barmyarmy #Cricket," Panesar tweeted.
In fact former England opener Nick Compton too is in favour of Flower being re-appointed, saying on Sky Sports News earlier this year that, "Long-term, Andy Flower had huge success with England. Okay, things didn't perhaps finish the way he would have liked but he has gone away to franchise cricket and is now wiser and older. He is a ruthless individual, a tough man who would not be afraid to call things out, make some of the changes and bring order back."
