Former Zimbabwe skipper Andy Flower to take over as England Cricket director

Former English cricketer and former skipper Andrew Strauss is to stand down as England’s Cricket director temporarily this season as his wife Ruth continues her treatment for cancer. Various reports suggest that former Zimbabwe skipper Andy Flower would take over Strauss as the director of England cricket in his absence.

“My wife was diagnosed with cancer in December,” Strauss told reporters at Lord’s on Tuesday. “We are very lucky she has been very well up to now although she is starting a new treatment on Friday which is going to be more challenging for her and as such I am going to be stepping back from my day-to-day duties while that treatment is going on.”

Andy Flower to take over:

On a day-to-day basis, according to Strauss, Andy Flower will take over throughout the course of the English summer. It was Flower, who was instrumental in Strauss’ successful spell as an English captain which included an Ashes victory in 2010/11 in Australia.

Since then, Flower has remained in the England and Wales Cricket Board set-up and is also the coach of the second string England’s Lions team.

“We all know about his qualities and his experience of both England and English cricket and he will fill in my shoes very adequately,” said Strauss. ”I look forward to returning and grabbing the reins again but at this period of time my focus has to be on supporting Ruth and my family at a challenging time for us.”

A tough test against Pakistan:

First up for England, is the Pakistan side who defeated the Irish team in a four-day Test encounter. The 2017-18 Test programme was a terrible one for the board, as England failed to win a single test against both Australia and New Zealand.

During his course as the director, Strauss has appointed former batsman Ed Smith as the national selector. On Tuesday he revealed the establishment of a scouting network made up of six former England players in Marcus Trescothick — still playing for Somerset — Glen Chapple, Steve Rhodes, Richard Dawson, Chris Read and James Taylor to assist Smith.

[interaction id=”5b052070a222d450c5c6a8a5″]

Stay updated on ‘today’s cricket news‘ with CricTracker.com.