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Former England cricketers Andrew Flintoff and Graeme Swann will continue their venture into coaching by mentoring the England Lions for upcoming training camp in the United Arab Emirates, as per ESPNcricinfo.
As per ESPNcricinfo, Flintoff and Swann, two of the country's most talismanic cricketers, were both in Loughborough on Thursday, working with the 20-strong playing group that will fly out for a three-week trip focusing primarily on red-ball skills. Flintoff and Swann have both been associated with the England pathway in the last year. Flintoff recently returned from an unpaid stay with the ODI squad for their series against Ireland, where he presented fellow Lancastrian Tom Hartley with his first international cap in Nottingham. Swann, who retired in 2013 as England's best off-spinner with 255 dismissals at an average of 29.96, accompanied the Lions on their 2022 tour. The pair will work alongside Jim Troughton (Surrey) and Paul Tweddle (Somerset) on a coaching squad led by men's elite bowling coach Neil Kileen. Mo Bobat, who will be in the UAE for the length of the trip before leaving the ECB in February to become director of cricket for Royal Challengers Bangalore, praised Flintoff and Swann's continuous commitment. "He's got a huge passion for helping people. He is going through a bit of a journey himself. He wants to give back to the game. He has a lot to offer, and there is a lot of energy and enthusiasm from him, and we have a desire to get him involved. It's not often you get players of his calibre and experience wanting to get involved as proactively as he does. You have to really take that seriously," Bobat said of Flintoff as quoted by ESPNcricinfo. "We got him around the U19s, and he was brilliant with them. We got him around the England lads, which I know Jos [Buttler] and Motty [white-ball head coach Matthew Mott] really enjoyed. I started speaking to him in the summer, saying I'd love you to come on this camp, and he said he'd love to. At the moment, we have agreed that he will come for the whole camp, but he's in demand and we will see. He also has a few medical things he is still working through which we have to be respectful of. The plan is that he's there for the full camp," he added. England Lions last month announced training group to travel to the UAE from November 6 to 27. As well as offering developmental experiences to the players selected, the trip will support England Men's Test preparation for Pakistan with five members of the Test squad arriving ahead of the Test tour and three pace bowlers joining the group to continue their rehabilitation from injury. (ANI)
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