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England’s managing
director, Rob Key, feels that Andrew Flintoff would become a
“excellent” head coach one day because he had a “gift” for
man-management like to that of Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum.
One of Flintoff’s closest pals in the game, Key, played a crucial role in his
comeback to the public when he sustained terrible facial injuries in December
2022 while filming an episode of Top Gear.
Before being
unveiled as the new head coach of Northern Superchargers for this year’s
Hundred, Flintoff served as a mentor for the England Lions set-up after the
extent of his injuries became evident during last year’s series against New
Zealand, when he was offered an unpaid role in the white-ball setup for
England.
As Jos Buttler’s team looks to defend the title they won in Australia two years
ago, Key confirmed in an interview with The Telegraph that Flintoff has also
been added to England’s backroom staff for their T20 World Cup campaign in the
Caribbean in June. This will be Flintoff’s most significant involvement with
the squad to date.
“Without question, I think he would be an excellent head coach,” Key
told the newspaper. “Who knows where he ends up in the future. He will be
a worthy candidate going forward. When that time comes and whoever is in this
job, and it might be outside of my time, they would be stupid not to look at
him.”
In his opinion,
Flintoff’s struggles – both since his accident and in the wake of his own
playing career, which was cut short by a knee injury – have armed him with an
“emotional intelligence” that players value when dealing with the
pressures of high-level sport.
“Flintoff is a leader like [Ben] Stokes,” Key said. “Just having
someone who knows what it is like to struggle and come out the other end is so
relatable to those players. When they have had a bad day he can explain it. He
is one of those people when he talks to you he is working you out.
“He has high
emotional intelligence so he understands when you need a bit of an arm around
your shoulder or blunt honesty. Those are the skills that make a great leader.
Leadership is about making the people around you feel better and he is someone who
is like that. He has a lot to offer.”