Flower announces international retirement

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Andy Flower has announced he will retire from international cricket after Zimbabwe’s Word Cup Super Six match against Sri Lanka in East London on Saturday.

The wicketkeeper-batsman’s impending retirement has been an open secret for several weeks, but Zimbabwe’s highest run-scorer in both test and one-day cricket has fought shy of confirming it himself.

“Tomorrow will be my last game for Zimbabwe,” Flower told Reuters at the team hotel on Friday.

"I’m not sure how emotional it will be. It’s very sad that it will be my last game. Zimbabwe cricket has been a huge part of my life for the last 15 years or more. I feel sad about leaving it and leaving some of my good mates like my brother (Grant) and Alistair Campbell.

“But I suppose we all have to move on and for me and my family it’s time to move on.”

Flower and team mate Henry Olonga made international headlines last month when they took the field for Zimbabwe’s opening World Cup match against Namibia wearing black armbands “to mourn the death of democracy” in Zimbabwe.

Flower, a wicketkeeper-batsman for most of his career before handing over the gloves to help groom Tatenda Taibu as his successor, played 63 tests, making 4,794 runs and averaging a world-class 51.54.

He will play his 213th one-dayer on Saturday, having scored 6,748 runs at 35.32 runs a visit.

The 34-year-old left-hander said the political situation in Zimbabwe had precipitated his decision to retire from the national side.

"Yes, ideally I would have liked to have carried on playing international cricket as long as I could have played it.

“There are a number reasons why I am retiring from international cricket and moving on to play elsewhere, but the political climate in Zimbabwe has certainly been a part of that decision – definitely.”

Flower believes the future of Zimbabwean cricket is very much in the balance and is inextricably tied to the political situation.

"The future of Zimbabwean cricket is very closely linked to the future of the country. None of us know how that’s going to turn out.

"I think there are parallels between the state of our country and the state of our cricket. If our leaders make some good decision or if there are positive changes in the leadership of our country there may well be a positive outcome for Zimbabwean cricket.

“If the country keeps sliding away the direction of a lot of African dictatorships and deteriorates generally, then I think our cricket might go the same way. That is a serious risk,” Flower said.

Flower also confirmed that a number of his team mates would also be calling time on their international careers in the near future. Olonga, Campbell, Guy Whittall and Craig Wishart are all understood to be considering their futures as Zimbabwe cricket faces a watershed moment.

“It is a turning point,” Flower said. "It’s true that there are going to be others that stop playing soon. Myself and a few other of the older guys have been involved so much since there were only three professional cricketers at the World Cup in 1992.

“Now it’s a multi-million dollar business. It’s symptom of the changing of the times that guys like me will be moving on.”

Flower confirmed that he would be taking up a contract to play with county side Essex in the forthcoming English season. He is also widely expected to appear for South Australian during the Australian summer.

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Probably the best batsman produced by that country. I think he made a huge contribution to Zimbabwe cricket. There otherwise fragile batting line up depended a lot on him.

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True .He along with Neil Johnson,Murray Goodwin and Streakl gave great respectibility to that time.Without him I see ZIM going KEN/BD way again.

:k: for Andy.

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Andy Flower, the player from the Zimbabwe, who has scored most of the runs from his side. A great wicket-keeper as well. His batting always based on sold techniques, which makes him to play drive, cover, cut and hook shots, and is strong off his legs.

Andy said Goodbye to Cricket and feels no regrets. He knew his era is over.

Thank you, Andy. It's been a pleasure watching you play. :)

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What a great batsman, without him Zimbabwe are nothing, he is more like Tendulkar of Zimbabwe.
I still remember his great performances, but the most recent one comes to mind is his slaughter of the Indian bowlers a year ago, he was at his peak at that moment.

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Andy Flower - One of the greatest batsmen of our generation and a greater human being. Backbone of ZImbabwe batting for over a decade.

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here are his 10 best inings.

115* v Sri Lanka, World Cup, 1991-92, New Plymouth
Only Desmond Haynes has made a bigger score on his one-day international debut. Flower, back then a regular one-day opener even though he never opened in a Test, carried his bat to guide Zimbabwe to 312 for 4 … and they still lost. It was to become a recurring theme: Flower made four ODI hundreds - and was on the losing side every time.
Almanack report
115 v India, Only Test, 1992-93, Delhi
Another 115, another defeat - but this was the start of something beautiful. India isn't the easiest place for visiting batsmen to ply their trade - just ask Ricky Ponting (149 runs at an average of 12 so far)- but for Andy Flower it was a second home; he began here with a high-class 115, and added a defiant unbeaten 62 in the second innings). Ironically, it was Flower's first-innings charge at Maninder Singh that arguably cost Zimbabwe a draw. Nobody could say he didn't learn from his mistakes, though: in five Tests in India he averaged a stonking 117.
Almanack report

156 v Pakistan, First Test, 1994-95, Harare
The one with two tosses. At the start of this match, the Pakistan captain Salim Malik called 'bird'. The eagle adorns the Zimbabwean coin, and when it landed bird-up, Malik happily announced he would bat. But the match referee ordered a rethrow, Malik called wrongly, Flower batted first - and he and his brother set up Zimbabwe's first Test victory with a partnership of 269. Grant took the honours with an unbeaten, 11-hour double-hundred, but it was Andy who changed the mood of the match, careering to 156 when Zimbabwe were under the hammer at 42 for 3.
Almanack report

112 v England, First Test, 1996-97, Bulawayo
Flower could do patient too, as he did with this six-hour century in Zimbabwe's first-ever Test against England. In the end, his crease occupation as much as the runs was the difference between an English cakewalk and flippin' murder.
Almanack report

41* v India, Only Test, 1998-99, Harare
Small can be beautiful too. Probably Zimbabwe's best Test victory was this nailbiter against India - it was even front-page news for a while. In the sense that they won by 61 runs, Flower's contribution made no difference. But with the rest of the middle and lower order going down in a hurry, it gave Zimbabwe vital breathing space.
Almanack report

113* v West Indies, First Test, 1999-2000, Port-of-Spain
Trinidad has had its fair share of stinking wickets in the last ten years, and this was one of the foulest. Nobody made a half-century in the match . except Flower, who scrapped valiantly for a seven-hour unbeaten 113 in the first innings. To put it in context, the other ten Zimbabwean batsman got 150 between them - in the whole match. That included a desperate collapse in the second innings: chasing 99, they got the heebie-jeebies and were 63 all out.
Almanack report

232* v India, Second Test, 2000-01, Nagpur
As Alec Stewart will testify, wearing the wicketkeeping gloves can seriously damage your batting average. But not if you're Andy Flower: his figures were 54 with, 35 without. Here he made the highest-ever Test score by a keeper, a match-saving 232 not out. It was a staggering feat of endurance: Flower had kept wicket for over 150 overs, scored 55 in Zimbabwe's first innings, and was in inside 17 overs when Zimbabwe followed-on. More than nine hours and 444 balls later he was still there, and India's spinners had been brought to heel.
Almanack report

142 & 199* v South Africa, First Test, 2001-02, Harare
Andy Flower's match, pure and simple. In isolation either of these innings would have been classics; put together they make something truly colossal. Sometimes - just ask Chris Lewis - runs in defeat have an impure quality. Not this time: Flower's performance in the face of certain defeat was spellbinding; at times destructive, at others, particularly towards the end, that of a man handing on for dear life as his hand began to slip off the precipice. In many ways the effort drained him: this took Flower's Test average to a Bradmanesque 108 over a 12-month period. For the rest of his career it was a Crawleyesque 34.
Almanack report

142* v England, Third ODI, 2001-02, Harare
Another 142, another Harare defeat - but this was the one where Flower lost his rag. He should have been given caught-behind off Paul Collingwood, but after some indignant sledging from James Foster, Flower gently reminded him that he wasn't at a freshers' fair now. Fewer people batted better in a huff, and Flower went on to carve 142 not out off 128 balls, a minor masterpiece that included an ODI record seventh-wicket partnership with Heath Streak. Flower's was more than three times the highest England score - Mark Ramprakash's 47 - yet Zimbabwe still lost. It was ever thus.