“The bottom line for me is that I’m very happy in the work that I’m doing at the moment… I’m really comfortable with what I’m doing,” Flower said at Spirit’s media day. “I have [ruled myself out], yes.”
Flower had been tipped as one of the leading candidates to take over in the wake of Brendon McCullum’s departure from the Test role. He previously coached England between 2009 and 2014, winning home and away Ashes series as well as a tour to India. He has since achieved great success on the T20 franchise circuit, recently securing back-to-back IPL title with RCB.
Asked about the interest in him returning to work with England, he said: “Yes, obviously that is a topic that’s being talked about at the moment. Yes, I have spoken with the ECB. We’re all aware of the vacancy for the head coach job of the England national team, and I have spoken with Rob [Key] and the ECB on that topic.
“The bottom line for me is that I’m very happy in the work that I’m doing at the moment. I work for a couple of really good organisations. I’ve got really good teams around me and good people around me and I’m really comfortable with what I’m doing at the moment.
“I’ve worked with England before and I had an amazing time when I had the privilege to be England head coach and represent England as one of their leaders a number of years ago, and I remember those years really fondly, and it would be a privilege for me or anyone else to be the Test coach.
“But for me at this time, I’m really comfortable with what I’m doing. I’m going to stick with doing that.”
“Well, I can’t speak for other people and it wouldn’t be right for me to speak for the ECB, obviously,” he said. “They’ll have to make their own judgments on that. For me personally, I don’t think I could have done both, especially with the IPL being held during the first couple of months of the English summer. If I was England Test coach, I’d like to be here watching and interacting with the people I needed to watch and interact with, so for me, that wasn’t a possibility.”
