world xi coach flower wants pakistan fans
Last Updated : GMT 05:17:37
Emiratesvoice, emirates voice
Emiratesvoice, emirates voice
Last Updated : GMT 05:17:37
Emiratesvoice, emirates voice

World XI coach Flower wants Pakistan fans

Emiratesvoice, emirates voice

Emiratesvoice, emirates voice World XI coach Flower wants Pakistan fans

Hashim Amla will also pay for the World XI team in Pakistan
Abu Dhabi - Emirates Voice

World XI coach Andy Flower is looking forward to being involved in a series that enables Pakistan fans to "see their heroes" after years of being "starved" of international cricket, he told AFP on Friday.

The former Zimbabwe batsman and ex-England coach was named on Thursday as the man who will oversee a World XI that will play three Twenty20 internationals in Lahore next month in a bid to revive international cricket in Pakistan, where the sport has a fanatical following.

Pakistan, a short series against Zimbabwe two years ago apart, has effectively been a 'no-go area for top-flight international cricket since an attack by armed militants on Sri Lanka's team bus in Lahore in 2009.

Since then Pakistan, who won this year's International Cricket Council Champions Trophy one-day tournament in England, have played most of their 'home' games in the United Arab Emirates.

Now the hope is that the World XI fixtures will act as the forerunner to the resumption of full international cricket in Pakistan.

"This is important both for Pakistan cricket and for Pakistan as a country as a whole," Flower said in a telephone interview.

"Pakistan is a major cricket nation and it's very important for cricket there that the fans can see their heroes at home.

"It's something they've been starved off in recent years."

Flower, now the England and Wales Cricket Board's director of coaching, added he was looking forward to overseeing a World XI squad imbued with a 'special spirit'.

"Of course they are professionals who will be getting paid.

"But beyond the narrow confines of playing, I sense they are keen to do something for Pakistan cricket.

"I think there will be a special spirit in the team," explained Flower, adding he had complete "trust" in safety arrangements overseen in part by ECB security expert Reg Dickason.

South Africa captain Faf du Plessis will lead a side that also includes Australia's George Bailey and South Africa's Hashim Amla as well as former England all-rounder Paul Collingwood.

Flower was the coach and Collingwood the captain when England won their lone global limited-overs title - the 2010 World Twenty20 in the Caribbean.

Flower is eager to experience the 'passion' Pakistan has for cricket again.

"In the early days with Zimbabwe, many of our matches were against the sub-continental teams so we got to know their players well," he said.

"In 1995, my brother Grant - who has since coached Pakistan - and I shared a record partnership by brothers in a Test (of 269) against Pakistan. He scored a double century and I got a hundred.

"That was probably the proudest moment of my playing career," added the 49-year-old former left-handed batsman.

Flower was also England's coach when Pakistan's Mohammad Amir, along with pace partner Mohammad Asif and then captain Salman Butt, was banned for deliberately bowling no-balls in a 'spot-fixing scam' in the 2010 Lord's Test.

All three players were later jailed by an English court.

But since his return to international cricket in January 2016, Amir has starred for Pakistan in their Champions Trophy triumph and since then played a key role in taking Essex, Flower's old club, to the top of English cricket's County Championship First Division table.

"That was a very tumultuous time for Pakistan cricket," said Flower, as he recalled the events of 2010.

"While not condoning in any way what happened, he (Amir) was a young man who made a bad decision.

"I believe in second chances and it looks like he's taking his with both hands."

Source: Khaleej Times

 

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

world xi coach flower wants pakistan fans world xi coach flower wants pakistan fans

 



Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

world xi coach flower wants pakistan fans world xi coach flower wants pakistan fans

 



GMT 05:06 2024 Tuesday ,06 February

New hunt for flight MH370 gets under way

GMT 06:15 2018 Tuesday ,23 January

Volkswagen clinches record sales

GMT 20:35 2014 Monday ,08 December

CFP crucial for refining industry in Kuwait

GMT 13:25 2011 Tuesday ,13 December

Latest Call Of Duty Breaks $1bn Sales Record

GMT 06:47 2017 Sunday ,12 February

Fresh whale stranding on notorious New Zealand beach

GMT 10:48 2017 Sunday ,19 November

Industry minister receives Turkish ambassador

GMT 12:35 2015 Saturday ,06 June

Bindi Irwin is all grown up in new Instagram photo

GMT 14:08 2012 Tuesday ,28 August

600 Afghan soldiers killed over last 2 months

GMT 05:27 2011 Wednesday ,21 September

Facebook revenue estimated at $4.27 billion

GMT 20:06 2017 Wednesday ,22 February

Senior Yemeni general killed in Houthi missile attack

GMT 23:18 2016 Sunday ,12 June

Daesh kills 18 civilians trying

GMT 00:47 2017 Tuesday ,10 January

6 policemen killed, 9 injured in Arish attack

GMT 21:54 2017 Thursday ,15 June

Pleasant weather forecast

GMT 16:39 2017 Thursday ,17 August

Maria Sharapova granted wild-card entry

GMT 12:33 2012 Friday ,24 February

10 signs your spouse may be planning to divorce you

GMT 17:32 2017 Tuesday ,25 July

King leading diplomacy to safeguard Jerusalem

GMT 06:58 2012 Sunday ,12 February

Malaysia deports Saudi journalist
Emiratesvoice, emirates voice
 
 Emirates Voice Facebook,emirates voice facebook  Emirates Voice Twitter,emirates voice twitter Emirates Voice Rss,emirates voice rss  Emirates Voice Youtube,emirates voice youtube  Emirates Voice Youtube,emirates voice youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

emiratesvoieen emiratesvoiceen emiratesvoiceen emiratesvoiceen
emiratesvoice emiratesvoice emiratesvoice
emiratesvoice
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
emiratesvoice, Emiratesvoice, Emiratesvoice