Former England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff is the bookies' favourite to become England's next men's white ball head coach as rumours swirl over Matthew Mott's potential departure from the role.
Flintoff has emerged as the favourite candidate over former Australia batter turned coach, Michael Hussey, as well as former England Test No.3 Jonathan Trott. Another favourite in the race was 2019 World Cup winning captain Eoin Morgan, but he ruled-himself out of the reckoning last week when asked on Sky Sports Cricket coverage of The Hundred.
The candidates have emerged following reports that Mott will leave the role. Mott successfully coached England to their T20 World Cup win in 2022, but over the last seven months has presided over their disastrous World Cup campaign in India, and T20 World Cup title loss in the Caribbean. The reports of Mott's departure have persisted despite ECB CEO Richard Gould refuting their basis in an interview with BBC Test Match Special on day one of England's third Test against the West Indies.
When asked whether the rumours about Mott's departure were true, Gould responded: "No, that's not true... Matthew Mott is a really good guy, a really good coach, he's got a really good track record, same with Jos [Buttler]. We are always assessing our options, that's what happens in high-performance sport, you're always assessing your options, but you never want to be drawn into giving the dreaded vote of confidence or anything like that."
Of the potential candidates to replace Mott, the odds of Flintoff taking the job are put at 6/5 by William Hill, with Hussey in second place at 3/1. Three candidates are tied for third place on the list, with James Foster, Trott and Simon Katich all at 5/1. Morgan is still listed as a candidate at 8/1.
Flintoff made a return to the professional cricket environment during the summer last year, when he joined up with the England coaching staff for their white ball series against New Zealand. He has since been a regular member of the England coaching staff across formats and has received his first head coach role with Northern Superchargers men in the ongoing edition of The Hundred.
Flintoff's return to the game came after he suffered a serious car accident while filming for the BBC's Top Gear.
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