Andy Flower facts for kids
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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name |
Andrew Flower
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| Born | 28 April 1968 Cape Town, Cape Province, South Africa |
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| Nickname | Petals; Flower Power (along with brother Grant) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Left-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Right-arm off break | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | Wicket-keeper | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National side |
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| Test debut (cap 6) | 18 October 1992 v India | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last Test | 16 November 2002 v Pakistan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ODI debut (cap 20) | 23 February 1992 v Sri Lanka | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last ODI | 15 March 2003 v Sri Lanka | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ODI shirt no. | 33 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1993/94–2002/03 | Mashonaland | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2002–2006 | Essex | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2003/04 | South Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: Cricinfo, 13 November 2007
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Andrew Flower (born 28 April 1968) is a famous Zimbabwean cricket coach and a former player. Many people think he is the greatest Zimbabwean cricketer ever. He is also considered one of the best wicket-keeper-batters of all time.
Flower was Zimbabwe's main wicket-keeper for over 10 years. He holds many batting records for his country. For example, his score of 145 against India in 2002 is the highest by a Zimbabwean in a tournament. From October to December 2001, he was ranked as the world's best Test batsman.
After he stopped playing, Flower became a coach. He coached the English cricket team from 2009 to 2014. Under his coaching, England won the 2010 ICC World Twenty20. He was the second foreign coach for the English team.
Today, he coaches Trent Rockets in The Hundred. He also coaches Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League. In 2021, he was added to the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. He was the first Zimbabwean to receive this honor.
Contents
Playing Career
Flower was born in Cape Town, South Africa. He often played alongside his younger brother, Grant Flower. He is known as one of the best wicket-keeper batsmen in cricket history. Other famous players like MS Dhoni and Adam Gilchrist are also in this group.
Andy Flower made his international debut in 1992. This was in a One Day International (ODI) game against Sri Lanka. It happened during the 1992 Cricket World Cup. He was very good at playing against spin bowling. In a Test series against India in 2000/01, he scored 550 runs in just four innings.
He played 63 Test matches for Zimbabwe. In these matches, he scored 4,794 runs. He also caught 151 balls and stumped 9 players. In 213 One Day Internationals, he scored 6,786 runs. He caught 141 balls and stumped 32 players. He holds the Zimbabwean records for the most Test runs and most ODI runs.
Flower is the only player to score an ODI century (100 runs) on his debut in a World Cup match. He also holds the record for the highest Test score by a wicket-keeper batsman, with 232 runs not out. He is the only wicket-keeper batsman to have a batting average of over 50 in Test cricket.
Black Armband Protest
Near the end of his playing career, Andy Flower became well-known for a protest. During the 2003 Cricket World Cup, he and his teammate Henry Olonga wore black armbands. They did this during a match against Namibia.
They wore the armbands to protest against the policies of the government in Zimbabwe. They released a statement saying they were "mourning the death of democracy" in their country. They also asked for an end to human rights abuses. This brave act led to pressure from the Zimbabwean government. Flower then retired from Zimbabwean cricket and left the country. He only returned briefly in 2023.
After leaving Zimbabwe, he played for Essex in England. He also played for South Australia in Australia.
Coaching Career
On 7 May 2007, Flower became the Assistant Coach for the England Cricket Team. He joined the team for a Test match against the West Indies. When he took this job, he stopped playing for Essex. This marked the end of his playing career.
In April 2009, he became the full-time team director for England. Under his leadership, England won The Ashes series against Australia in 2009. They also won the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 tournament. In 2010/2011, England won The Ashes in Australia again.
In 2011, Flower was given the Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) award for his services to sport. On 13 August 2011, he led the England cricket team to become the number one ranked Test team in the world. He was also named the 2011 Coach of the Year by the BBC.
He successfully led England to another Ashes victory in 2013. However, England lost 5–0 to Australia in the 2013–2014 Ashes series. On 31 January 2014, Flower stepped down as head coach after five years. He continued to work for the England and Wales Cricket Board. He mentored other coaches and looked at coaching best practices.
Later, he became the head coach of the England Lions team. In 2020, he coached Multan Sultans and St Lucia Zouks. He was also an assistant coach for Kings XI Punjab. In 2021, he became the head coach for Lucknow Super Giants. In 2022, he coached Gulf Giants. In August 2023, he was appointed head coach for Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Charity
In September 2007, Flower became an Ambassador for Hope for Children. This charity helps children in need around the world, including Zimbabwe. He has helped raise a lot of money for them.
In July 2011, Flower also became an Ambassador for Melanoma UK. This group supports people with malignant melanoma, a type of skin cancer. Flower himself had surgery for melanoma in his right eye in 2010. He continues to support Melanoma UK by raising awareness and funds.
Personal Life
Andy Flower met his wife, Rebecca, in England. She is English. They have three children together. He has mentioned that being away from his family for cricket was sometimes difficult. In 2013, it was reported that Flower became a British citizen.
Images for kids
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Andy Flower's career performance graph. The red bars show his Test match innings, and the blue line shows the average of his ten most recent innings.
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Flower in 2014 with the England cricket team.
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Flower in 2021 as a coaching consultant for the Afghanistan cricket team.
See also
In Spanish: Andy Flower para niños
