Grant Flower - Zimbabwe - Batsman

Grant Flower was the younger of the Flower brothers who formed the backbone of Zimbabwe's batting throughout the nineties. Grant Flower gained reputation as a dogged opening batsman with an appetite for big runs. He made quite an impression at a very early age and was drafted into Zimbabwe's national squad in no time. He played in his country's first ever Test match soon after the 1992 World Cup and was one among the few who impressed in that game with a fine fifty.

His finest moment came in 1995 when Pakistan toured Zimbabwe. He registered his first Test ton and also converted it into a double, joining an elite list of batsmen to have achieved that feat. The knock became sweeter as it helped Zimbabwe register their first ever Test win. He also saved his best for Pakistan, scoring 3 of his 6 Test tons against them. Another highlight of his Test career was his hundred in each innings against New Zealand in 1997. His ODI career was an impressive one too as his consistency never dipped despite a shift to the middle order after opening for some time. His stats would have made a better reading too if he had converted at least a few of his 9 innings when he finished in the 'nervous nineties'. His tight left-arm spin came to the fore in the shorter formats and his all-round contributions were of significant importance to the young team. His bowling action came under scrutiny a few times but he continued on to produce some useful spells for Zimbabwe.

He announced his retirement in 2004 along with a lot of other players in protest against the Zimbabwe Cricket union. He was also named as the spokesperson for the rebel group of players. He moved to England soon after and had a successful stint with Essex before surprising everyone with a comeback into the Zimbabwe squad in 2010. He played only two ODIs in this stint and retired for good soon after, shifting his focus to full-time coaching.

Grant has served as Zimbabwe batting coach since October 2010. He applied for the head coach post but lost out to Andy Waller.

Trivia: Grant Flower missed the Australian tour in late 2003 with an injury. This was the first time since 15 years that the name 'Flower' was absent on a full Zimbabwe score board

By Ganesh Chandrasekaran