The importance of Andy Flower to Essex can be truly appreciated only now he has gone. Although the county were never a one-man team, Essex without Flower are like Doctor Who without his assistant, Blackpool without a pier or Eurovision without Wogan. They seem to be missing something. Suddenly the season looks as if it could be a long one. While the bowling was always a problem, the batting, too, is wobbling. Minus Flower the top six is made up of
rookies and Ronnie Irani. But no one is blaming Flower. He is 39 and was offered a wonderful position as England’s assistant coach.

“I’ll miss the Essex dressing room,” he says. “It has a great atmosphere and everyone’s pulling for each other. So of course I was a little sad to leave. Everyone at Essex gave me a great opportunity to play county cricket and I learnt so much from guys like Graham Gooch and Ronnie Irani. I always felt I was still learning at Essex and hopefully I gave a lot back.”

He did not just bring experience; he brought a mountain of runs. In five seasons he scored 6,215 first-class runs at 54, just above his overall average. “I think the young batsmen have all got great futures,” he says. “I wouldn’t be surprised to see some of them in the England dressing room soon.”
Daniel Brigham, The Wisden Cricketer