London, Mar.17 (ANI): Andy Flower, the assistant coach of the England cricket team, has given a withering assessment of its chances in Twenty20 cricket.
Were rubbish and we know we are, The Sun quoted Flower as saying, adding that England will be among the rank outsiders when they host the World Twenty20 this summer.
Speaking after his teams six-wicket loss to the West Indies on Sunday, Flower said the plain fact is England are poor at Test cricket, inconsistent in 50-over games and utterly hopeless at Twenty20. Flower, whose desire to be head coach has not diminished his honesty, said: Were a long way from having a successful formula in Twenty20. We dont have much time before the World Twenty20. But the five one-day internationals coming up can help us identify players who will be successful in Twenty20. Wed like to play more Twenty20 cricket to gain experience. County players have played a lot but the international guys are more inexperienced, he added. According to The Sun, captain Andrew Strauss does not know whether he will lead the side in the World Twenty20 tournament or be dumped because he is not worth his place in the team.
Flower indicated he would consider specialists like Essex big-hitter Graham Napier for this summers tournament.
Flower did, however, see one shaft of light through the misery of their defeat in Trinidad on Sunday.
He said: It was good to watch Stephen Davies, who did really well in his first game, and Ravi Bopara, who is a classy looking player, opening.
We were 47-1 off six overs, West Indies were 51-2. So that was not the area of difference. Ive very high hopes for Bopara, hes going to be a fine cricketer. He plays all the shots. Were desperate for a win. Thats the good thing about sport, you put yourself on the line all the time. Were going to stand toe-to-toe with these guys and fight it out, he said. (ANI)