Will miss players, won’t miss backstabbing ex-stars and PCB politics: Grant Flower

Flower, a former Zimbabwean international, had been a member of the Pakistan national team’s coaching staff, first within the Waqar Younis setup and later under Mickey Arthur.

His five-year association with the team was cut short last week when the PCB decided against renewing his, Arthur’s and other coaches’ contracts in a bid to start afresh.

When ESPNcricinfo asked Flower what he’d miss the most about Pakistan and the team, he said: “The friendliness of the people ... the passion of the players and the natural flair and their love of the game.

“It was such a nice thing to see because they've got so much to gain by playing for Pakistan and so much to lose by not playing. It's such a big thing for them and their families.”

But not everything was hunky-dory for Flower as a Pakistan coach. He said he would not miss “some of the backstabbing by ex-players. And a lot of the politics that happens within the TV channels, the journalists and some of the politics in the PCB itself. I won't miss those, certainly.”

Flower was full of praise for Babar Azam, describing him as “the best bloke I've ever coached — certainly the best Pakistani I've ever coached”.

The Zimbabwean had mixed reviews at best about Fakhar Zaman though, hinting that he’d be out of the side soon if he does not “get his technique a bit tighter”.

While Flower deemed Zaman “a lovely guy”, he admitted that the southpaw opener is “quite hard to work with” and has “a lot of rawness about him”.

Flower also had good things to say about “underachiever” Haris Sohail and “driven” Imam ul Haq, whom he tipped “to have a really good career ... as long as he doesn't get too far ahead of himself.”

Read the full interview at ESPNcricinfo