Andy Flower's Reason to Stay with England and Not Run off to Coach India: Tour Breaks!

The England and Wales Cricket Board may be preparing a unique contract to ensure that the lure of the BCCI's riches do not entice the England coach from shifting allegiance.

andrew strauss andy flower at press conference

Andy Flower, the former Zimbabwe cricketer, has settled quite nicely with his family in England. And it would seem that that would be the major deterrent for Andy Flower to even consider applying or giving thought to an offer to coach the Indian cricket team.

The ECB are rather happy having Flower in charges of England's coaching reins and are unwilling to let him go for fear of letting England slip once more from a position to launch to the pinnacle. England have had a great run in the Ashes, winning the traditional Test rivals both, home and away, and have had a reasonable year barring their mixed performance in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011.

With reports emanating of Flower being one of the prospects for India's coaching position, the ECB are not only in a hurry to renew Flower's contract for a three year period but also, give him the opportunity to pick tours!

That is a great option given that the current cricket schedule seems packed to the brim and a problem for any cricketer or coach, even the best of professionals, are finding the tinge of guilt when it comes to having a family life. In that light, Flower's problems, had he signed up with India assuming he is being considered in the first place realistically, are being solved before they become a burning issue.

Flower had previously made no bones of the fact that the England's unforgiving schedule and stay in Australia for the Ashes had taken its toll through player injuries and long time away from families and home.

It seems the ECB is willing to be flexible on the issue for the coach who will be, on the odd occasion, given the option of opting out of an assignment within his tenure to be able to rejuvenate in the company of his family. England are eying holding on to their Ashes urn, but also, perhaps looking at the no.1 Test team rank, something they have publicly spoken about since India became the no.1 Test team in the world.

It is interesting that Flower's extended tenure will not probably include the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 and that could pose a few problems for the England team that have never been able to lift the trophy in that tournament since its inception. However, that does not appear to be ECB's primary concern. For the moment, it is all about retaining the coach and ensuring England's processes stay in place.