adminMehluli Sibanda, Senior Sports Reporter
ANDY Flower, considered by many as by far the country’s most decorated cricketer is visiting Zimbabwe for the first time after 13 years, having left for England in 2003.
Flower was the guest speaker at a Falcon College fundraising function in Harare last Tuesday. In an interview conducted by his former national teammate Dirk Viljoen in front of an audience, Flower disclosed that he has already contributed to the country’s tourism by visiting Victoria Falls, Antelope Park in Gweru and was headed for Kariba the following day.
His biggest motivation for coming to the country he said was for his three children, two boys and a girl to see a Harare hospital where they all of them were born as well as show them the beauty of the country.
“We have been away for 13 years, this is my first time back, the (the children) were all born in the same hospital in Harare but we left when they were still young they probably don’t remember the place, I have come to show them the country, meet some of my friends, show them the Zimbabwean people and they have absolutely enjoyed it, we have been very lucky to visit Victoria Falls and Antelope Park a couple of months ago and I am going to Kariba tomorrow (Wednesday)’,’ said Flower.
Efforts to get Flower to shed more light on his visit to the country as well as speak about the current state of the game in Zimbabwe were unsuccessful as he pointed out that he could not grant any interviews because of his contract with the England and Wales Cricket Board. He is employed by the ECB as technical director of elite coaching and is in charge of the England Lions which is a feeder team to the English senior side.
Flower left Zimbabwe in 2003 after the infamous black armband protest which he embarked on with the country’s first black international cricketer Henry Olonga. The two shocked the cricketing world before the 2003 International Cricket Council match between Zimbabwe and Namibia at Harare Sports Club when they wore black armbands and issued a statement lamenting “the death of democracy in our beloved Zimbabwe’’.
Flower concedes that he ruined Olonga’s career by involving him in the protest because that ended the fast bowler’s involvement in the international game at the age of 26.
While Flower already had a guaranteed contract with English county cricket side Essex, Olonga had not made any plans for his future which saw him head to England but failed to break into the professional set up. Olonga for some years turned out for Lashings World Eleven which travels around the United Kingdom playing at different venues against schools and club teams to promote the game of cricket. According to Flower, Olonga is married to an Australian woman and lives in Adelaide with his wife and two children.
“It was a huge moment in my life. I knew at the end of it I had to leave the country that I love, it was a huge change for me. For me it was ok because I had a contract with Essex and I would be fine, Henry Olonga on the other hand I think he was 26, he was just starting his career, for him to make that decision to finish his career as the first black Test cricketer in the country I think was a monumental thing for a young cricketer to do,’’ Flower said.
Over the years there has been an impression that him and Olonga faced persecution if they returned to Zimbabwe, but Flower’s visit to the country should dispel that belief and show that Zimbabwe is a free country.
During the fundraiser, Flower went down memory lane, reminiscing on the time when he missed out on breaking the world record for the most consecutive half centuries in Test cricket until he was run out by Javed Omar for 23 runs against Bangladesh while batting with Alistair Campbell. Flower still shares the milestone with seven 50s in a row with the likes of the West Indies pair of Everton Weeks, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Sri Lankan Kumar Sangakkara and Chris Rogers of Australia.
He had two stints as Zimbabwe captain, being team leader when Zimbabwe recorded their first ever win in Test cricket by defeating Pakistan by an innings and 64 runs at Harare Sports Club in February 1995. He made 156 runs batting at number five while his younger brother Grant was unbeaten on 201 as an opener in Zimbabwe’s first innings score of 544/4 declared in 165 overs. The older of the Flower brothers also captained Zimbabwe for their maiden Test tour of England in 2000 when players protested over poor pay during that trip.
Flower recalled that they discovered that the bus driver who was transporting them around was being rewarded more than they were getting over the five days of a Test match. While the players won the case against the Zimbabwe Cricket Union after arbitration, Flower was jettisoned after that tour with the leadership handed to Heath Streak when New Zealand visited the country in September 2000.
When Flower concluded his playing career with Essex, he ventured into mentoring talent with his first high profile job being appointed England assistant coach in May 2007, then elevated to head coach in 2009, a position he held until the beginning of 2014. He guided England to three Ashes series victories over Australia. Flower also handed England their only ICC limited overs trophy when he led the team to victory in the World Twenty20 in West Indies.
Last Tuesday’s event was attended by some of Flower’s former national teammates, Tatenda Taibu, Trevor Gripper, Douglas Marillier, Craig Evans, Gary Brent, Gavin Rennie, Campbell and Guy Whittall. A bat belonging to Flower was auctioned off for $2 100 while an England warm up shirt was sold for $500.
Falcon College headmaster Reginald Querl, his wife Martha, the private school’s sports director Brendan French and Gavin Ewing, the man in charge of cricket at the institution were present at the event. Querl said they were looking to use the funds raised from the function to put up a roof over their basketball courts and also install floodlights at the same facility.
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