"I don't think we need to tinker with the wickets" - Andy Flower bats for evolution to adapt with fast-changing T20 trends [Exclusive]

"I just lost a game of padel to my brother. So I'm sipping peppermint tea in one hand and water in the other while I lick my wounds".

That's Andy Flower with his wry sense of humor as he joins in from Dubai for a conversation with this writer during the recently concluded International League T20 (ILT20). A coach as accomplished as he is, certainly hates losing and clearly, that's not just restricted to the cricket ground.

The ice is broken and a smiling Flower, in his unassumingly composed tone, reflects on a host of things, beginning with the ILT20, where he was back as coach of the Gulf Giants for a third successive season. As things eventually turned out, it wasn't to be a campaign to remember as the Giants bowed out prior to the knockouts but the Zimbabwean legend lavished praise on the diversity in culture that comes with the competition.

"It is a very different tournament to the other franchise tournaments," Flower tells Sportskeeda in a recent, detailed conversation on the sidelines of the league. "The primary difference is that in every XI you have the option of having nine overseas players and two local UAE players. That is one of the things really to be celebrated about the ILT20 - a great diversity of players, backgrounds, their experiences and cultures all come together in the UAE and we’ve got some excellent owners. It’s really interesting in that regard from the perspective of diversity of people that are involved in the tournament and it’s a direct parallel to what we see happen in Dubai itself - it’s a melting pot of people from all over the globe that come to this incredible place. I quite like that parallel and it’s a point of difference with every other league in the world."

Praising the standard of cricket in the ILT20 and the ever-increasing crowd turnouts, Flower also suggested the limited travel time being a huge factor towards players wanting to return, citing that it's a reason why they 'love coming here'.

"You can arrive, get your hotel room and you’re pretty much in that hotel room for that whole month. So you can bed down, spread your stuff around the room and you don’t need to do a lot of that internal travel. And that’s really beneficial for the players particularly that are so busy year round - they can settle into what is a more normal life. And even with their families - their families can settle into the venue," says Flower.

Flower waxed lyrical on the progress that the local players in the UAE have made in these three seasons, stressing that a combination of the ILT20 and the Abu Dhabi T10 has accelerated their development like never before.

"The exposure that you get as a young UAE player against some of the best players in the world and working with some of the best coaching and management staff in the world - Tom Moody is at Desert Vipers for instance, Robin Singh with MI Emirates, (Kieron) Pollard’s been here for three years - mixing with these cricket brains is very important for their development. And also the exposure of training out there in the middle when they’re under pressure and they have to grow in real time, they’ve got to work out how to grow quickly as a player in real time - that’s been great for UAE player development.

"One of the things I really enjoyed watching in November was the ILT20 development league. The Adanis (owners of the Giants) got me and a couple of people out from Ahmedabad and we scouted that tournament and watched it live at the ICC Academy in Dubai. It was a really brilliant tournament to watch. We saw all this young UAE talent and a very competitive and high-class tournament I thought.

"You see players like Muhammad Waseem who really excels in this world-class tournament and when he plays international cricket for the UAE. Aayan Khan, our 19-year old left-arm spinning all-rounder, he’s got the best economy rate in the ILT20 over three years. That’s just two examples of the growth of these guys in a very high standard combination. So the combination of T10, ILT20 and the Associate cricket exposure that these guys are getting means that the UAE is becoming a strong, confident national cricket team," says Flower.

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"It would be negligent not to try to improve ourselves through intelligent use of information" - Andy Flower

One of the aspects where Flower stands out and carries a burgeoning reputation is his immaculate use of data. It has been a massive part of his success as a serial winner across franchise T20 leagues around the world.

He finds the concept of data 'an interesting one because some people shy away from it'.

"As soon as you start talking data, some people interpret it as ‘oh you’re not working with a human being. The player is a human being’. It’s not as black and white as that. I think you’ve got to combine all sorts of different things as a coach and a leader to bring out the best in people and the best in the group as a whole. The use of data is just one of those things.

"Sometimes you find some really interesting stuff, sometimes you spend a lot of time mining for information that doesn’t actually provide you any of that insight that it would be negligent not to try to improve ourselves through intelligent use of information. Combine that with working with the players and ensure they feel free to make their decisions out there in the middle, which is what they have to do - they have to understand their games as well as possible. Data can help in that regard as well as all sorts of other things like self-reflection," Flower elaborates.

While stating that using information wisely is a challenge that teams and coaches are tasked with today, Flower cited the example of an analyst he has worked closely with to highlight how more use of data makes the strategist in question a lot more confident.

"We have an excellent young Indian analyst named Saurabh Walkar that works for us. He also works with the WPL team Gujarat Giants in India and around many leagues around the world. He’s great to work - I've known him for a number of years. He’s getting better and better and more confident in his position. And it’s an interesting aspect I find of the game in trying to get an edge. You’re always trying to get an edge on your opponents aren’t you? So this is one area you mustn’t ignore," declares Flower.

Is there more to data-oriented T20 coaching that is yet to be tapped into, though?

"I’m absolutely certain there is", states Flower. "In my experience, creating bowling plans and being as specific as possible when you understand human fallibility is quite a tricky thing to do. Finding good bowling coaches that are not necessarily the best technical bowling coaches but coaches that can work with players in putting useful and very specific plans together for the opposition is a really important part of the bowling coach’s job, along with the analyst and the other coaches as well. But I think generally that isn’t done that well and being the head coach I’m also critical of myself in not finding optimal operating procedures and insights to better direct our bowlers. And I think that’s a huge growth area for us."

The discourse around data puts into perspective how bowlers can make good use of it to stop batting powerhouses from posting marauding scores at a time the limits of what is a safe score in T20s continues to be tested. But Flower isn't in favor of tinkering with the surfaces to restore balance, rather laying the emphasis on bowlers to become more innovative with their plans and execution.

"I don’t think we need to tinker too much with the wickets themselves. At the moment bowling is difficult on flat pitches, there’s no doubt. But the entertainment value is still there for a fast-bowler to operate. You can see England trying to emphasize fast-bowling stocks at the moment. And mystery bowlers have become more and more important - taking pace off the ball and introducing more deception into the delivery so that you create more mishits. That has been a big part of recent development in T20 cricket. That’s a good thing.

"The market forces are driving the necessity for some of the innovation that we’re seeing and that is normal progress in evolution that we’re seeing. So don’t tinker too much with surfaces and allow the players and the game itself to drive standards higher and drive the innovation necessary to find the edge on the opponent," says Flower.

When asked if he fears that six-hitting patterns could get monotonous, Flower acknowledged that it shouldn't get to a point where it isn't special enough but remained firm on bowlers finding a way to attack and take wickets.

"We’re seeing some great mystery bowling at the moment. Varun Chakravarthy in the recent T20I matches in India was sensational. He was bamboozling high-class batters. I like the necessity for that evolution to drive those standards and innovation and I think on the fast-bowling front, we will also see that. We saw (Lasith) Malinga come and go through his career as probably the finest yorker bowler that we’ve seen and (Jasprit) Bumrah is not far behind with his subtlety and cricket intelligence. So I think those bowling standards will have to improve to get that balance between bat and ball," says Flower.

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"I love attacking cricket" - Andy Flower on Bazball and its viability in Australia

Prior to all his success as a T20 coach, Flower was at the helm when England reached the summit of the ICC Test Rankings in 2011 and when they went on to secure a famous Test series win in India the following year. The style of cricket England played with the bat back then was a lot more traditional and yielded excellent results but it was a far extreme to today's approach, colloquially dubbed as 'Bazball'.

Having coached both England's senior and U19 sides, Flower is well-versed with the cricketing ecosystem in the country (File image).

Yet, Flower admits to being a fan of Bazball having watched England throw the first punch from the opposite camp in 2023 when he was a consultant with the Australian team during the Ashes.

"I really enjoy watching the England Test team play. It’s very entertaining, it’s very exciting. I’ve loved the way that they’ve gone about their work. I love attacking cricket. So I really respect what they’ve done under the leadership of Ben Stokes and Baz (Brendon) McCullum. I hope that continues," says Flower.

Is Bazball the best approach come the Ashes in Australia later this year though, considering Australia are a tough nut to crack in their own backyard? Flower reckons England, while sticking to their approach, will occasionally have to adapt.

"Adaptability and flexibility of thinking, your decision making and judging risk and reward as a batter is something that will never go away. But batters have become more confident at innovation and also playing their attacking shots on good pitches. So the risk-reward decision making process and judgment, they are tending towards more attacking play and putting opposition bowlers under pressure because you get better results. I like that, I like the unpredictability that some batters might pose for the opposition bowlers and strategists. So that’s really exciting to be a part of in the dressing room, I would imagine," says Flower.

He added:

"It’s really exciting to watch for all the spectators. Occasionally they’ll have to be flexible, dig in, fight out a situation, absorb a little bit of pressure, leave balls for a period of time. Inevitably that will be the case occasionally and you would hope that their cricket intelligence allows them to do that as well as attacking the opposition."

Flower did admit to not being sure on how to view the rumored two-tier Test system, however, that could see the 'Big Three' of India, England and Australia play each other a lot more frequently.

"I’m going to disappoint you with my answer but I’m going to be as honest as I can. Because I’ve been involved in the franchise world for a number of years, I haven't really studied the subject. I feel if I comment strongly on it, it would come from an ill-informed place.

"I think it’s a really difficult problem that the ICC face at the moment, getting the balance between how much international cricket and franchise cricket is played and also trying to give meaning to bilateral series. I admire the way they’ve tried to do that through the World Test Championship and they’re trying to give that context and meaning and that’s really good intent. How we continue to do that and keep Test cricket alive in the face of the distraction or pulling power of the T20 game is a really difficult one to answer and I don’t sit here pretending that I have those answers so I’m going to sit on the fence on that one," says Flower.

It should come to nobody's surprise if Flower does have a clear answer to this some time soon. Rewiring and adapting with changing trends is true to life and cricket in general. Well beyond his playing days, Flower remains a deep thinker of the game and a problem-solver staying two steps ahead of his counterparts.