Andy and Grant Flower are still not interested in returning to theZimbabwe cricket team as long as the present administration remains

James Jones20-Feb-2007

Grant (top) and Andy Flower: not tempted by a return to international cricket © Getty Images
Andy and Grant Flower are still not interested in returning to theZimbabwe cricket team as long as the present administration remains. TheEssex pair spoke to Cricinfo on Monday while turning out for the World XIagainst a West Indies All Star team as part of the reopening of theKensington Oval on Saturday.”I walked away because of the state of affairs and not much haschanged,” said Andy Flower, the former Zimbabwe captain. “Since then it hasgone further downhill. I don’t believe things will change unless thegovernment changes, so that’s the stage we are at.”The brothers left the Zimbabwe team in 2003, disenchanted withgovernment policies and how the ZC cricket body led by Peter Chingokawas rife with financial mismanagement, bias and infighting. Dozens ofnational players have quit the side since, and Zimbabwe stopped playing Tests morethan a year ago because it wasn’t competitive enough.It has a conditional return to Test status in November, but considering thecountry has had no first-class competition for two years the talk of areturn to Test cricket may be premature.Chingoka was reportedly trying to attract former players for the Zimbabwe squadfor next month’s World Cup in the Caribbean to avoid embarrassment. Grant Flower, two years younger than Andy, called for a change of administration in the country. Otherwise, he said, the game would perish.”As Andy said, a lot needs to be done to save the game of cricket inZimbabwe. We would love to help, but we can’t work under the presentbosses,” said Grant. He also predicted a tough time for the team in the WorldCup.”Zimbabwe has been forced to field a team of kids and we have all seenthe results. It’s not the players’ fault but I don’t see them doing verywell in the World Cup out here.”