Grant Flower appointed Pakistan batting coach
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LAHORE: Pakistan appointed former Zimbabwe opener Grant Flower as their batting coach Thursday in a comprehensive overhaul of the national team's management in their bid to win next year's World Cup.
Grant, younger brother of former England coach Andy, will join in August during Pakistan's tour of Sri Lanka.
“We have completed the signing of Grant Flower as batting coach for two years starting from August,” a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) spokesman told reporters.
The latest appointment follows PCB's decision to name Waqar Younis as head coach for a second stint and Mushtaq Ahmed as spin bowling consultant.
Pakistan is also likely to appoint former England fielding coach Richard Halsall as their fielding and strengthening trainer.
The 43-year-old Grant is known for his superior technique among Zimbabwean batsmen. Ironically his highest Test score of 201 came against Pakistan at Harare in 1995.
He played 67 Tests and 221 one-day internationals for his country before moving to England as coach, and also coached Zimbabwe for a brief period until 2012.
Pakistan's national team have been plagued by batting problems, mostly on foreign tours. They lost all three Tests in South Africa and were bowled out for their lowest score of 49 in the Johannesburg Test last year.
Pakistan had also hired Australian Trent Woodhill for a brief two-month stint last year but even that failed to bring any improvement to Pakistan's batsmen, who are regarded as flat track bullies.
Former greats Javed Miandad, Inzamam-ul Haq and Zaheer Abass have also tried to lift the quality of batting in the recent past.
Grant's first assignment will be Pakistan's tour to Sri Lanka in August, where they will play two Tests and three one-day internationals.
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On DawnNews
Comments (26) Closed
May 15, 2014 08:50pm
Granted he is Andy's brother, but will he be as handy as Andy was with England? Will have to wait and see. Good luck Mr Flower. You will need a lot's of good wishes to make your stint in Pakistan a bed of roses.
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May 15, 2014 09:26pm
I must admit, brave appoitments by pcb and if India agrre to play these series, then all in all Mr Sethi will have done a good job.
sl tour and nz tour arranged ether side of aussie tour. Good by pcb. At least they getting games.
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May 15, 2014 09:27pm
Pakistani pitches & FOREIGN COACH, does not make any sense..
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May 15, 2014 09:33pm
Welcome Grant. Please bring some order in the batting camp of Pakistan. Hold tight since it is going to be a very bumpy ride since most of the guys have fewer marbles. Be assertive and set high bars for low achievers.
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May 15, 2014 09:54pm
What? They could have done better than this.
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May 15, 2014 10:01pm
What a joke? Why can't PCB find a batting coach from hundreds if not thousands of ex Pakistani cricketers roaming in the streets and cities of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan with an "Available" tag around their neck?
As always, a foreign coach can't do much in the ranks and columns of green-shirts where more than 90 percent of cricketers are unable to fluently speak, read and write English language whereas the foreign coach is unable to not only have any clue about the great Urdu language, he/she has also got no idea about the culture, values, social norms, history, architecture, cuisine, traditions, eating habits and various other important practices of the society of the "land of the pure."
What a shame?
Nevertheless, I wish Grant Flower the best of luck and a happy and sublime future as a batting coach of the Pakistani team both at the domestic as well as overseas fronts.
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May 15, 2014 10:30pm
why not join now and train the guys before the series begins instead of during the series, absurd !!
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May 15, 2014 11:14pm
@ Dr Salaria: It could be a good or bad decision but we can't blame PCB for not hiring the Pakistani coaches as most have failed except Aaqib and Waqar. Mohsin Khan reaped the fruits of works of Waqar and is whining for no reason now. Which other greats you have in mind that have been bypassed. Pakistani coaches indulge in power politics.
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May 15, 2014 11:42pm
@Dr. Salaria, Aamir Ahmad They can speak language of Cricket and that's good enough.
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May 15, 2014 11:52pm
All coaches are good as far as coaching is concerned. The results comes from the playing eleven so better select good & young players for coaching. Our veterans have reached a point where further coaching will down grade their performance by making them nervous. Select young & talented players and group them as A&B from these 2 groups select your team separately for T20 & other game format, this will give result.
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May 15, 2014 11:52pm
I am not against the appointment of Grant Flower as a "foreign coach". The best person for the job must get it, regardless of his nationality, religion, or ethnicity. However, I always wonder as to why a legend like Javed Miandad never gets this position. He is not fit as a leader due to his childish ways, but he is definitely a cricketing genius and his batting exploits against some of the best bowlers in the world during his time is no secret.
He can really inculcate come fierceness in our batsmen as well as help them address their weaknesses. Was he not interested in the job, or was PCB not interested in him for this position?
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May 16, 2014 12:08am
His last name is Flower? Are we mourning something? There is no one in Pakistan that can do the job effectively. What a shame!
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May 16, 2014 12:18am
Thank God a batting coach......i hope Waqar Younis and Najam Sethi mind their own business and let Mr Flower do his job.............Good Luck Pakistan
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May 16, 2014 12:59am
@Dr. Salaria, Aamir Ahmad : Dr sahab even though we have a lot of ex-cricketers roaming on the streets of Pakistan with an available tag but do you see the fine print underneath it saying "EGO". Hope you can find someone without that fine print and recommend to the PCB.
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May 16, 2014 01:12am
He cannot do anything when players like Mohammed Hafeez, Imran Farhat, Shoaib Malik and Kamran Akmal continue to be in the team. Give him new players who want to learn and succeed, he will be able to show results. Our players are more involved in team politics than playing cricket for Pakistan. In the end it is the player who has to score, not the coach. All coaches are new, but players are still the same. Wrong formula. Players need to be changed.
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May 16, 2014 01:31am
@Dr. Salaria, Aamir Ahmad ..when will you guys learn that you don't have to be a good player to be a good coach. Grant was a great batsmen considering the weak team he used to shoulder with his brother. Pakistani guys like inzi get too involved in non cricketing matters and are not fit enough and fast enough to take into strides the demand of modern day games.
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May 16, 2014 02:04am
@Dr. Salaria, You seem to comment at length on most issues. Ex. Pak players mostly have a chip on their shoulder and want red carpet rolled out for them. For batting no culture or dietary regulations are required apart from willow making contact with leather. Language barrier to some extent yes but nowadays most players speak English even if it is in broken form. As per Shoaib Akhtar most Pak batters are retards so perhaps a 'gora' can knock some sense in them! One can only hope as previous batting coaches from so called land of pure have failed miserably. By the way I believe Pak is land of impure going by its present situation. Cricket & PCB is true reflection of our society which to put it mildly is a complete mess. One can only make dua for improvement Insha'Allah.
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May 16, 2014 02:27am
Hopefully he can make our team 'blossom'.
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May 16, 2014 03:04am
Another foreign coach,we haven't learned any lesson....
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May 16, 2014 03:17am
Mr. GF's appointment as a batting coach of Pakistan will, obviously, help Waqar Younis (head coach) achieving the strategic objectives,establishing the batting discipline(consistency), and producing the desired results. On the other hand, PCB should rethink about the appointment of Mr. Mostaque Ahmed as a bowling consultant, counting his controversial track records of the past.
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May 16, 2014 06:04am
He seems to have good credentials but what he or anyone else can teach cricketers who are already playing test cricket? Most of the youngsters coming through Pakistan's first class setup have absolutely no technique, no stamina and no stomach to go through the rigors of learning. Even their stance and running between the wickets is very substandard.
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May 16, 2014 07:18am
Give him some new faces and I guarantee that Grant Flower will bring great results to the Pakistan's team.
Wish you all the best Grant, and thanks in advance for joining our team.
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May 16, 2014 07:58am
Their is nothing really ironic about he scoring 200 against Pakistan.
I hope this flower blossoms in our team and make it more colorful. but what about his coaching former experience and credentials?
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May 16, 2014 12:45pm
As I stated in another post elsewhere, Pakistani cricketers are among the most naturally gifted, and that includes both batters and bowlers.The batsmen especially need their natural skill and stroke playing abilities to be honed, perfected and disciplined for consistent success.I believe that PCB is looking to Grant Flower to get that mindset of discipline and intense focus out in the middle.Grant did not light up the world with his batting but he possessed a stubborn temperament and gut desire to play long innings.If he can somehow pass that on to the batters, then there will be improvement in the batting. Sometime I wonder if Pakistani followers understand that your country is a wonderful cricketing nation and your role in the world of cricket is important for all.Pakistan has lost so many exceptional cricketers in the recent past and yet they are able to churn out from their cricketing assembly line more and more players of high level to take their place. Hats off to you Pakistan!
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May 16, 2014 03:28pm
@ zahid
@ Najma
@ Ganga Din -
Too many Pakistani cooks in the dressing room will only spoil the broth. They are legendary at in-fighting. So, a thoughtful move from PCB. Besides, Najma loves everything foreign
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May 16, 2014 07:05pm
Pakistan never had good world class batsmen did they?
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