05 June 2023 , 12:18
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Former England coach Andy Flower has swapped sides and will be working with the Australian team to try and help them win the Ashes.
As head coach of England between 2009 and 2014 Flower enjoyed a period of remarkable success both at home and away and remains the only man to lead England to victory Down Under in nearly four decades on the 2010/11 tour.
It was the second of three Ashes victories that England enjoyed under the former Zimbabwe skipper who also took them to No.1 in the world in Test cricket in 2011, working alongside skippers Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook.
Now operating as a freelance cricket coach, working most recently in the IPL in charge of the Lucknow Supergiants franchise before returning as head coach of Trent Rockets, the reigning champions in the Hundred, Flower is in huge demand around the world.
And with a gap opening up in his schedule in the first part of the English summer he has joined forces with Aussie boss Andrew McDonald to work with his team for a few days ahead of the World Test Championship final, before returning to help in the Ashes.
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Andy Flower won the Ashes three times with England as head coach (Gareth Copley)Flower was introduced to the Aussie camp at the Oval on Monday during their training session ahead of Wednesday's final and will bring huge in depth knowledge of both the conditions as well as many of the England players, especially those who made their debuts under him such as Ben Stokes, Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow.
Flower also spent time as the interim managing director of England men’s cricket in place of Andrew Strauss. And he will be the second Zimbabwean to have contributed on both sides of the Ashes following Graeme Hick’s spell as the Australian batting coach between 2016 and 2020 having played 65 Tests for England.
David Saker is back in the England dressing room after working with the Aussies (Getty Images)In the other direction former Aussie bowling coach David Saker has made a double switch having been England’s bowling coach between 2010 and 2015 before returning to Australia to do the same job between 2016 and 2019.
Saker will once again be back in the England dressing room this summer having helped the T20 side to World Cup glory Down Under in November. As too did former Aussie batting legend Mike Hussey as a batting consultant under England's Aussie white-ball coach Matthew Mott.