England bring star all-rounder to join backroom staff, may appoint him the new head coach

Andrew Flintoff has joined England's backroom staff for the upcoming T20 World Cup, and ECB managing director Rob Key sees this as a potential indication of the former all-rounder's suitability for the team's head coach position. Flintoff is set to coach the Northern Superchargers in the Hundred this season and will also be part of the England team during their four-match T20I series against Pakistan leading up to the ICC tournament.

“Without question, I think he would be an excellent head coach. He will be a worthy candidate going forward. When that time comes and whoever is in this job, and it might be outside of my time, they would be stupid not to look at him,” Rob Key told Telegraph.

Brendon McCullum manages England's Test side, while Matthew Mott serves as the coach for the team in white-ball formats. Key also compared current England captain Ben Stokes to Andrew Flintoff, noting that Stokes, being from Lancashire, can easily connect with players in the dressing room.

“Flintoff is a leader like (Ben) Stokes. Just having someone who knows what it is like to struggle and come out the other end is so relatable to those players. When they have had a bad day, he can explain it.

“He has high emotional intelligence so he understands when you need a bit of an arm around your shoulder or blunt honesty. Those are the skills that make a great leader,” said Key, a close friend of Flintoff.

The 46-year-old Flintoff had suffered serious facial injuries while shooting for ‘Top Gear’ in 2022 and Key was instrumental in bringing his former teammate back to mainstream cricket.

Key also said former England players like all-rounder Moeen Ali should be fast-tracked into coaching roles in future.

“Moeen Ali I think will be an excellent coach, there are so many people. They have these skills and we want to try to create experiences where they can really learn,” he added.

(With PTI inputs)