Brendon McCullum has been sacked as England men’s Test coach, and the Three Lions are reportedly going ‘all-out’ to sign Andy Flower, the current man-in-charge at Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).
According to The i Paper, Flower is the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB)’s number-one choice to succeed McCullum. The report noted that there’s just one stumbling block to the board’s efforts: Flower’s lucrative contract in the IPL, and the huge financial offer it would take to lure him away from Bengaluru.
Flower previously served in the England set-up as a coach for over five years, starting when he was appointed assistant coach under Peter Moores in 2007. Following Moores’s departure and a spell as interim team director during England’s 2009
tour of the Caribbean, Flower was made full-time team director in 2009.
His tenure proved highly successful. That year, England regained the Ashes at home, and in 2010, they won their first global ICC trophy, the World Twenty20, followed by a famous historic Ashes victory in Australia in 2010-11, the last down under. In August 2011, England reached number one in the Test rankings, a period that also included a 4-0 win over India, and Flower led the side to a further home Ashes win in 2013.
His career as head coach ended after England suffered a 5-0 Ashes defeat in Australia in 2013-14, though he remained with the ECB in other roles for a few more years.
Flower’s departure would be a seismic blow to RCB
After the end of his career in England, Flower built an image of being one of the most progressive T20 coaches in the world, with his acceptance of data and pragmatism also making him one of the most successful in leagues around the world. Trophy-less RCB reportedly signed him for three years in 2023, and he played a huge role in revolutionising their fortunes.
In 2024, he inherited a flawed team but began the push for more selfless, pure-T20-friendly hitting and a move away from the superstars at the Chinnaswamy. Alongside Mo Bobat, he then used the 2025 auction to build RCB in his image, retaining only Virat Kohli as a marquee player and investing resources in world-class bowlers, which helped him deliver back-to-back titles, with one of the most complete IPL teams ever.
Losing him at this stage would be a huge blow to RCB. The team has undergone a takeover only recently and the new owners would not want to start their campaign by losing a lynchpin of their success.
Other options
England signed McCullum when he was still a coach at Kolkata Knight Riders, though the New Zealander hadn’t had nearly the same impact at the Eden Gardens.
The report said that if the ECB fails to land Flower, they have others in the list of contenders: former Australia and current Lucknow Super Giants coach Justin Langer, England Lions coach and national legend Andrew Flintoff, former captain Eoin Morgan and Surrey coach Gareth Batty.
