Not Kumar Sangakkara, Andy Flower named 'outstanding candidate' for England head coach job by ex-English captain

The England cricket team’s hunt for a new white-ball coach has taken a dramatic turn as former head coach Andy Flower is now being hailed as one of the candidates for the role. With the shock resignation of Matthew Mott as England’s white-ball coach, the race is heating up for the top job, and Flower's name is also making the rounds among the cricket fraternity.

Flower, who coached England from 2009 to 2014 with three Ashes series victories and the 2010 T20 World Cup, is seen by many as the perfect fit to revive the team’s fortunes in limited-overs cricket. Even former England captain Michael Atherton also backed the former head coach to return to the England cricket team.

England's coaching race heats up as Andy Flower emerges as leading contender

Atherton also named a few names who are looking strong for England’s coaching role. He believes that the legendary Sri Lankan cricketer Kumar Sangakkara is currently a red-hot favorite to replace Mott as white-ball head coach, thanks to his alliances with the captain Jos Buttler at the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the IPL.

He also named former England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff as one of the favorites while saying Brendon McCullum might juggle coaching both Test and white-ball teams. Atherton is also confident that the 2019 World Cup-winning captain Eoin Morgan, Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott, and Australian coaches Michael Hussey and Simon Katich will also be contacted to take up the high-pressure job in England cricket.

Reacting to Mott’s sudden resignation from his position, he said that it was on the horizon. However, Atherton admitted that Mott’s tenure was not completely disappointing, but England’s performance in the 2023 ODI World Cup and 2024 T20 World Cup showed that things were not working, so it would be nice to have a new coach, and his choice will be Flower.

The outstanding candidate would be Andy Flower: Michael Atherton

Michael Atherton was quoted as saying by Sky Sports: “I concur with that. The last two World Cups haven't been good. But he goes away as one of only three head coaches to have won a World Cup with England. It's not a completely disappointing two years, but the last two World Cups you got the sense that things weren't quite working.”

On the potential candidates to replace Mott as England’s white-ball head coach, Atherton noted: “Kumar Sangakkara is near the top of the list. He has worked with Jos Buttler of course at the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL. There's Eoin Morgan, and although he seemed to rule himself out the other day on commentary, I've got no doubt his name will be floated around.”

He signed off by saying, “There's the two Australians held in high regard: Michael Hussey, who worked with England when they won the T20 World Cup in Australia a couple of years ago, and Simon Katich, who is coaching the Manchester Originals in The Hundred. There's Jonathan Trott, who has had a fantastic run in charge of Afghanistan. People speak very highly of James Foster but for me, the outstanding candidate would be Andy Flower.”

"It's an interesting one. The broad brush rule of life is not to retrace your steps but it's a very different time to when Andy was previously in charge of both Test and white-ball teams. He has since gone on to have terrific success in franchise cricket... the role now is almost like leading a franchise, because players come in for a short period and then disappear."