‘There is hardly a better option’ - Nasser Hussain backs Andy Flower as next England white-ball head coach

Former cricketer Michael Atherton recently spoke on England’s vacant white-ball head coach position and suggested England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) open a discussion in bringing Andy Flower back into the set-up. His longtime teammate Nasser Hussain now echoed the same emotion and mentioned that few may consider Flower’s appointment to be a backward step but he pointed out the success the former cricketer had in franchise cricket in recent times.

Notably, under the guidance of Flower, England won the T20 World Cup in 2010 and also became the number-one ranked Test side. After that, he fell off with ECB, which led to his departure. Hussain believes that the time is right for him to return and asked ECB managing director Rob Key to check his CV and approach him. He also called Flower the best possible option for England.

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“Some would view (Flower) as a backward step – ‘never go back, you are going back to a former England coach’ – but I think Andy has moved on. Andy was very anti-franchise and IPL, but that was a very long time ago. Now he has travelled the world, winning for most franchises and doing some really good things,” Hussain told the PA news agency.

“He is a brilliant coach. You just have to look at his CV and, if Rob Key got Andy Flower’s CV out, there is hardly a better option than that, but again it is if Andy wants to do it. I just look at the best person for the job, simple as that. I’ve worked with Kumar and (he has a) brilliant brain. I’ve played and seen Andy Flower, brilliant player-coach, brilliant man,” he added.

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Hussain also noted that the likes of Kumar Sangakkara and Brendon McCullum are good options as well. He added that the job right now is not to find the right candidate but actually, someone who wants the job to coach England's national team.

“They are all very good candidates and I repeat the job is not so much finding the candidate, it is finding the candidate that actually wants to do the job,” Hussain said.