England would be “foolish” not to consider Andrew Flintoff for the head coaching job, according to director of men’s cricket Rob Key.
We conducted an extensive interview with. Telegram SportsKey said Flintoff had a “gift” with people, comparing his man-management skills to Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes, and revealed Flintoff would step up his coaching development by becoming part of England’s backroom squad for the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean in June . on his most important mission yet.
Flintoff is close friends with Key, who facilitated his return to cricket after he suffered a horrific facial injury while filming an episode of Top Gear.
Flintoff, who quickly won the hearts of England players, will be a candidate for the white-ball coach post after the World Cup in June. Current head coach Matthew Mott is under pressure after a 50-over World Cup last year.
“I think he will be an excellent coach, without a doubt,” Key said. Telegram Sports. “Who knows where he will be in the future? He will be a valuable candidate going forward. Whoever is in the business when that time comes, it may be outside my time, they would be foolish not to look at him.”
Flintoff will be head coach of the Northern Superchargers at Hundred this summer and spent part of the winter working with England’s limited-overs squad on a tour of the Caribbean and as a mentor to the under-19 and Lions teams.
He will also train with England in their home ODI series against Pakistan ahead of the T20 World Cup, which will take him back to the infamous pedalo incident in St Lucia in the 2007 World Cup.
While his television career took off after his retirement, Flintoff had little direct involvement with cricket over the years. But Flintoff remained in touch with Key, who reached out to him while he was home recovering from injuries sustained in a car accident and invited him to watch the Ashes Test matches last summer.
“I had a health scare myself a few years ago, and I knew from my stroke experience that the worst thing was sitting at home doing nothing,” Key said. “Your mind can’t stop thinking about what would happen and the best thing I did was go back to work. That was the only time I remember not thinking about what happened.
“I told Fred, ‘find an office on the ground and watch from there.’ Despite everything he has done, cricket is what he always comes back to. Like all of us, it is what we know and love better than anything else. It’s almost like he has no choice. “This is the thing he thinks about most after his family.”
“He helped us a lot,” Key added. “It’s a very relatable feeling for these players, to have someone who knows what it’s like to struggle and come out the other side. He can explain when they’re having a bad day. He’s one of those people who when he talks to you, he tries to figure you out.”
“He has high emotional intelligence, so he understands when you need a little arm around his shoulder or some blunt honesty. These are the skills that make a great leader. Leadership is making the people around you feel better, and that’s what he is. It has a lot to offer.
“Flintoff is like a leader [Ben] To stock up. He will not need to learn leadership qualities. He’s got plenty of what you need at the highest level. Not only is he a great player, but he also has the empathy that Stokes has.
“He knows what it’s like to run and struggle. As a leader, all of this means that you can influence people, positively or negatively, with your interactions with people, everything you do. Fred realizes this and many people don’t realize this and understand how to use this gift with people. “
Key says one of his aims is to revamp the coaching training programme, which will offer former top-level professionals such as Flintoff, Moeen Ali and Eoin Morgan a fast-track route where their playing experience is factored into recognized qualifications.
“It will be fascinating to see how he performs with the Superchargers he loves,” Key said. “If you could design the perfect coach development programme, Flintoff is on a great journey. He started out helping out as a mentor, then did some Lions cricket, the under-19s, and went on to become the head coach of a draft team, how to build a squad and all in quick succession.” He will work on how to make it come together.
“This is a much more meaningful experience than sitting on a Zoom call and listening to someone tell you what to do. I think Moeen Ali would be an excellent coach, there are so many people. “They have those skills, and we want to try to create experiences where they can actually learn.”