Andy Flower praises England’s resilience in foreign conditions

The England cricket team's Technical Director and chief coach Andy Flower feels his side's ability to "learn and adapt" was the decisive factor in its 2-1 triumph over India in the just-concluded Test series.

Andy Flower (right) said that the England players have done themselves and their country proud by winning the Test series in India © Getty Images

London: Dec 18, 2012
 
The England cricket team’s Technical Director and chief coach Andy Flower feels his side’s ability to “learn and adapt” was the decisive factor in its 2-1 triumph over India in the just-concluded Test series.

“…one of the most satisfying things at the minute — certainly for me, and I’m sure for the players — is that they’ve shown they can score runs. We’ve come out here and very importantly shown that this bunch of cricketers can learn and adapt,” Flower told Sky Sports 1.

“They’ve really done themselves proud here and their country proud. To come out here and show that they’ve learnt things is one of the special things about this victory,” he said.

England rallied after losing the opening Test in Ahmedabad by nine wickets to clinch back-to-back wins in Mumbai and Kolkata to end a 28-year wait for a series triumph on Indian soil.

Spinning tracks was to be the trump card for India but ended up being exploited by the visitors who out-performed the hosts in every department of the game.

Flower said the English have become better at tackling spin now.
 
“They’ve learnt how to play spin a lot better, obviously not the finished article but they’ve learnt how to play spin a lot better, they’ve learnt how to take 20 wickets in these conditions and they’ve learnt how to be resilient in foreign conditions,” Flower said.

“I think those are all things they can be very proud of,” he said.

Flower said he did not lose patience with the side after the Ahmedabad loss.

“It’s nice for that faith to be repaid. I must say after that first Test loss I was heartened by the way that we played in the second part of the first innings and heartened by the way we played in the second innings,” he said.

“I’ve also seen the work, obviously very close hand, that they were doing in training and I was convinced they were better players of spin than they showed in the first bit of that first innings in Ahmedabad – that cost us really dear there,” he added.

“We didn’t know which way it was going to go but I think they’ve proved they’ve learnt a lot especially some of the older players. That is a testament to some of their humility and their maturity to continue their learning into this phase of their career.”