Andrew Flintoff, the former England all-rounder, will join the Test squad as a batting consultant ahead of the third Test against Sri Lanka at The Oval. Flintoff’s appointment comes as Marcus Trescothick, the current batting coach, takes a short break before assuming the role of interim white-ball head coach for the upcoming series against Australia.
Flintoff has been involved with England’s white-ball setup for the past year, including the T20 World Cup in June. However, he will not be part of Trescothick’s coaching staff for the three T20Is and five ODIs against Australia next month. Flintoff recently gained experience as a head coach with the Northern Superchargers in the Hundred, where his team narrowly missed out on qualification.
Flintoff is expected to join the Test squad on Wednesday for two training days and will assist Brendon McCullum’s staff throughout the third Test. His role is short-term, and he is not expected to be involved in the winter tours of Pakistan and New Zealand.
Trescothick will take a few days off after the second Test at Lord’s before joining the white-ball squad ahead of the first T20I against Australia on September 11. His backroom staff will largely remain the same as Matthew Mott’s, with the addition of England Under-19s coach Michael Yardy.
Trescothick has not yet decided whether he will apply for the white-ball head coach’s role on a permanent basis. He stated, “I’m still very focused on the batting stuff with the Test team. I’m going to let this play out and see what happens for this period of time, and see how much I enjoy doing the head coach’s role and then go from there really.”
Trescothick will work alongside Jos Buttler, his former Somerset teammate, who is expected to continue as captain but may relinquish the wicketkeeping gloves in the T20Is. Trescothick said, “It’s definitely something we’ll think about, because we can try different options, give it a go for a period of time and see what reaction it has on his captaincy and on the team.”
Despite recent setbacks in World Cups, Trescothick believes England’s one-day cricket is in a good place. He added, “Jos is going to lead that forward for a period of time at the moment – and I don’t see it changing.”
