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Andrew Flintoff is not expected to continue his coaching role with England’s white-ball side when they face Australia this summer.
The fan favourite, who has made a gradual return to professional cricket in the last year after a life threatening car crash while filming for Top Gear, was part of former coach Matthew Mott’s backroom team for the T20 World Cup earlier this year.
Flintoff was working on an ad-hoc consultancy basis in the Caribbean, having previously performed mentoring roles with the England Lions and Under-19s.
The limited-overs side is in a state of transition following Mott’s sacking last month, with Marcus Trescothick placed in interim charge while a recruitment process takes place.
Flintoff was mooted as a potential candidate, having taken up his first head coaching job with Northern Superchargers in this year’s Hundred, but the Daily Telegraph has reported that he lacked chemistry with captain Jos Buttler.
England are set to finalise plans for their forthcoming ODI and T20 series against their Ashes rivals early next week but Flintoff will not be part of Trescothick’s group. The England and Wales Cricket Board declined to comment on specifics, confirming only that “squads and management for the series against Australia to be confirmed and will be announced in due course.
Flintoff was encouraged to return to the England fold by his friend and former team-mate Rob Key, the ECB’s managing director of men’s cricket, and it is possible that he could be offered further work across the pathway.
Speaking last summer Buttler said of Flintoff’s temporary appointment: “He’s obviously an England legend and it’s just nice to have him around the group. He’s not been brought in with any specific role, just to be around and observe. The lads can pick his brains a little bit and he’s settled in really well.”
The second series of Flintoff’s television show Field of Dreams is currently airing on the BBC, while his 16-year-old son Rocky is continuing a rapid rise with his maiden County Championship appearance for Lancashire this week.
