Andrew Flintoff has walked away from his role as Northern Superchargers head coach, suggesting the team’s new Indian owners made him feel undervalued, offering him a salary about 25% of that offered to his peers at other Hundred teams.
Flintoff, who remains one of the biggest stars in English cricket, led the Headingley-based franchise in the past two editions of the tournament.
The former England captain revealed the news on the Beard Before Wicket podcast, co-hosted by the Superchargers spinner Adil Rashid, indicating he would have liked to stay on after overseeing a third-placed finish this year.
But he claimed conversations with the Sun Group, which bought the full 100% stake in Superchargers as part of the influx of new investors in the competition, quickly broke down.
“Unfortunately I’m not going to do it, which is sad,” Flintoff said. “The past two years I felt we were building something really nice and I’d have loved to see it through.
“We’ve got new owners, I spoke to them. They phoned up, they said they wanted us to do it, so I said: ‘Yeah, fine. Make us an offer.’
“I genuinely don’t do it for the money, although it’s nice, but I think I’m worth [more] than just over a quarter of the [salary of] other head coaches.
“The money was one thing so I’m not quite sure they wanted me anyway, but then you also want to feel valued. I said: ‘This isn’t going to work for me,’ and they weren’t going to move on it.”
Rashid, one of the team’s marquee players, told Flintoff: “You’ll be missed. I wasn’t expecting that.”
Flintoff, who is also head coach of England Lions, may interest other Hundred teams as the influence of new investors is felt. London Spirit have lured Andy Flower away from Trent Rockets and further personnel changes are likely.
Superchargers, meanwhile, are poised to change their name to incorporate the Sunrisers branding of their Indian Premier League and SA20 stablemates.
