News

Flower gives Strauss full one-day support

England coach Andy Flower has given Andrew Strauss a ringing endorsement over his captaincy of the one-day side

Andrew McGlashan
Andrew McGlashan
07-Jun-2010
As far as Andy Flower is concerned there is no debate over Andrew Strauss's one-day position  •  Getty Images

As far as Andy Flower is concerned there is no debate over Andrew Strauss's one-day position  •  Getty Images

England coach Andy Flower has given Andrew Strauss a ringing endorsement over his captaincy of the one-day side ahead of the series against Australia later this month following speculation that the leadership position may be under debate.
Comments by Geoff Miller, the national selector, on Sunday didn't appear to give Strauss unequivocal support when he said: "If we think it is right to go elsewhere we will do that." Following the victory against Bangladesh at Old Trafford, Strauss was quizzed about his position but insisted he wasn't aware of Miller's comments and was preparing to lead the one-day team against Scotland on June 19 followed by five matches against Australia and a series against Bangladesh.
Flower was surprised that Strauss had been asked to defend his position and was in no doubt that he would be the captain. "He did not mention any of that to me last night," Flower said. "Andrew Strauss will be captaining in the one-dayers."
England's triumphant Twenty20 campaign in the Caribbean has led to calls for the same side to be fielded in the 50-over format, but Flower is comfortable with Strauss's role in one-day cricket and believes he had an impact on the success in the shortest format.
"He is a fine leader and a fine batsman," he said. "I think in the last 12 months he has done some really good things for us in one-day cricket. He bats aggressively up front. His specialist area is facing the quick bowling.
"He has been the architect of the attacking type of cricket England's one-day side has been playing. In a way, he was the catalyst for the attacking cricket we have been able to play in Twenty20 as well. Over the past 12 months, he has played some very good limited-overs cricket."
England will name their one-day squad on Thursday, but one man who certainly won't be there is Steven Finn despite his Man-of-the-Series performance against Bangladesh after taking 15 wickets in two matches. The selectors have decided he requires a conditioning programme like that undertaken by Stuart Broad and won't be considered for any ODI action ahead of the Pakistan Test series at the end of July.
Flower was also keen to temper expectations for 21-year-old Finn with comparisons already being made with Glenn McGrath and talk of a vital role he can play in the Ashes series later this year.
"I don't like to make those comparisons," he said. "Steven Finn is unique in various ways. He is very much his own man. Comparing him to other fast bowlers, to me, is not useful. But he has a lovely action."
"He has been very impressive. He's played four Test matches now, and it's fair to say he's learning all the time," Flower added. "He has very, very good control for a 21-year-old fast bowler. I think that comes from his action, and also a very sound and grounded personality. It is a great start for him, but he also realises that he has great scope for learning and progress."
The position likely to create most debate for the one-dayers is that of wicketkeeper following Craig Kieswetter's impressive performances in West Indies which followed on from his maiden hundred against Bangladesh in Chittagong. Matt Prior hit 93 at Old Trafford, but his ODI average is a mediocre 25.38 having been shunted around the order during his career and it's unlikely there will be room for both in the squad.
"Michael Slater was an attacking and quick-scoring Test player but never really fitted the bill in limited-overs cricket," Flower said. "Matt is an attacking, often counter-attacking, batsman in Test cricket. He has had a lot of opportunities up the order in one-day cricket and has not quite grasped them, and has consequently been playing a role in the middle order."
With Prior missing out on a hundred in Manchester it means his last three-figure score for England was in Trinidad last March. Since then he has admitted to putting in a huge amount of work on his keeping, but Flower said it was important he maintained his standards in both roles.
"I don't think it needs to be a balancing act between wicketkeeping focus or batting focus," he said. "Everybody has the time and energy to do both. There is no scope for saying you are working hard on one and therefore the other suffers, at all.
"Matt, in his career with England so far, has done some really good things - with the bat and gloves. There was evidence of that again in this last Test match. He had a really good and important partnership with Ian Bell."

Andrew McGlashan is assistant editor of Cricinfo