* Flower and Olonga launched unprecedented 2003 protest
* Outstanding test career
* New and daunting challenge
By John Mehaffey
LONDON, April 15 - Andy Flower, appointed England
director of cricket on Wednesday, was responsible with Zimbabwe
team mate Henry Olonga for a startling and unprecedented protest
in his team's opening 2003 World Cup match.
Flower and Olonga took the field against Namibia in Harare
on Feb. 10, 2003, wearing black armbands to "mourn the death of
democracy in our beloved Zimbabwe".
"We cannot in good conscience take to the field and ignore
the fact millions of our compatriots are starving, unemployed
and oppressed," the pair said in a joint statement.
"We are aware hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans may even
die in the coming months through a combination of starvation,
poverty and Aids.
"We are aware many people have been unjustly imprisoned and
tortured simply for expressing their opinions about what is
happening in the country. We have heard a torrent of racist hate
speech directed at minority groups."
Cricket followers had been aware over the previous decade
that Flower possessed abundant physical and mental fortitude.
Now he had demonstrated equivalent moral courage in the face of
intense pressure from the Zimbabwe authorities who threatened to
drop him from the squad if he did not abandon his protest.
They were forced to back down when other senior players said
they would not take the field if Flower was omitted.
The Wisden almanac called Flower and Olonga's statement
"calm, dignified and lethally clear".
"Together they were responsible for a shining moment in the
game's history which is already on its way to entering its
mythology."
ZIMBABWE'S BEST
It was, though, the end of the international road for Flower
who took his wife and family to England where he played for
Essex before joining the national team setup as batting coach
and now director of cricket after head coach Peter Moores was
sacked before this year's West Indies tour.
Flower, 40, by some distance the best player produced by
Zimbabwe, was always a realist.
"When I started taking cricket seriously, I never actually
had a high regard for whatever talent I had," he told Wisden.
"Seeing the ball, hitting it, there were plenty of other
cricketers who did that better than I did. But I thought one
area where I could be better than them was to be more
determined, more hungry and not give anything away."
The result of this determination and application was an
outstanding player who is statistically the most successful
batsman of all test wicketkeepers.
In 63 tests the nuggety left-hander averaged 51.54 with 12
centuries and at one stage was ranked the world's number one
batsman.
Keeping to an attack who caught the batsman's edge less than
any other test team, Flower took 151 catches and effected nine
stumpings.
He was the first wicketkeeper to score a century in each
innings of a test, equalled West Indian Everton Weekes's record
sequence of seven consecutive test half-centuries and his 232
not out against India is the highest score by a test
wicketkeeper.
An opening batsman in his youth, Flower by hard thought and
practice made himself into a consummate player of spin,
particularly effective on the Indian sub-continent with both
conventional and reverse sweeping.
Remarkably, Flower's feats with the bat and gloves came
while Zimbabwe were in steady decline, winning only seven tests
and 54 one-day internationals during his career.
He also captained his country for 20 tests but
unsurprisingly found the triple burden of principal batsman,
wicketkeeper and leader too onerous.
Although Flower's playing credentials are impeccable and his
personal reputation irreproachable, his new job presents
different demands.
Flower must balance the political demands which accompany
any high-profile job in English sport, the constant media
attention and the exhausting schedule of the national team who
play more cricket than any other country.
In his favour is a history of overcoming the most daunting
of odds.
(Editing by Tony Jimenez. To query or comment on this story
email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)