Flower’s England tenure over

Saturday, 1 February 2014 00:18 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Andy Flower is to leave his position as England Team Director, according to reports. England suffered a 5-0 whitewashing in Australia earlier this month, losing the Ashes in humiliating fashion, and it appears that Flower has now paid the price with his job. Despite saying in the aftermath of the Test series that he wanted to continue and oversee England’s rebuilding, the Telegraph has reported that Flower was told in a meeting with the new Managing Director, Paul Downton, that the ECB had decided differently. Downton, who officially begins in the job on 1 February, has been conducting a review of England’s disastrous tour, which got worse on Friday with defeat in the T20 series. Flower, who took over in 2009, led England to the No. 1 ranking in all three formats, winning three consecutive Ashes series and the World Twenty20 during his time in charge. He returned to England after the Tests and had been expected to begin discussions about the way forward with Downton and Alastair Cook, the Test and one-day captain. The limited-overs coach, Ashley Giles, is currently in charge of the team and England do not play a Test series until June. Flower had been due to travel to Sri Lanka and join the Lions tour, running an eye over the next generation of Test players, but that trip has now been cancelled.