The former England all-rounder, Andrew Flintoff, will work with the national side for their third and final Test against Sri Lanka at the Kennington Oval in London next week, as the batting coach of the red-ball side, Marcus Trescothick, will be taking a short break before his stint with the white-ball side ahead of their series against touring Australia in September.
Andrew Flintoff was involved in their white-ball set-up in the past, including their recent campaign in the West Indies for the T20 World Cup 2024, but he won’t be part of their white-ball coaching staff for the last series of the summer consisting of three T20Is and five ODIs next month.
In his first experience as a head coach at the Hundred for the Northern Superchargers, Freddie tasted success as his team finished in the fourth position and missed out on the qualification by a small margin.
Andrew Flintoff to coach England batters for third Test vs Sri Lanka
The veteran is expected to link up with the red-ball squad on Wednesday (September 04) for the first of the two training days and will be part of head coach Brendon McCullum’s staff throughout the final Test of the summer. Given it’s a short-term role, Andrew Flintoff isn’t expected to be involved in their winter tours of Pakistan and New Zealand.
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Marcus Trescothick, on the other hand, will have a few days off at the end of the ongoing Lord’s Test, which is scheduled to end on Monday (September 02), before he links up with the white-ball squad ahead of their opening of the three-match T20I series at the Rose Bowl in Southampton, to be played on September 11.
Most of his backroom staff will be the same as their last head coach, Matthew Motts, who stepped down from his position a few weeks ago, besides having the short-term addition of England’s U-19 coach Michael Yardy. However, he hasn’t decided yet if he will permanently apply for the white-ball coach’s role.
“I‘m still very focused on the batting stuff with the Test team.” The former left-handed opening batter expressed to Sky Sports on Friday. “I’m going to let this play out and see what happens for this period, and see how much I enjoy doing the head coach’s role and then go from there really. I’m quite open to the idea of seeing what’s going to happen.”
A week ago, Andrew Flintoff informed the management of his decision to avoid the white-ball set-up, which is one of the reasons behind the new development.
Trescothick will work with their white-ball captain, Jos Buttler, who has been backed to be the side’s leader, but could leave the wicket-keeping gloves, keeping his focus purely on the opening position.
“It’s something we’ll think about. Because we can try different options, give it a go for a period of time, and see what reaction it has on his captaincy and the team.” He claimed.
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“For whatever reason, there were a tough couple of World Cups that they had in the meantime and we’ve come out of those not feeling too great about our one-day cricket.” The 48-year-old shaded light during the conversation. “But it’s still in a really good place, and Jos is going to lead that forward for a period of time at the moment – and I don’t see it changing.”
Apart from Root and their lower order, the top order of the England side has struggled in the ongoing series, and that’s where the role of Andrew Flintoff would be vital going to the Oval.