Flower retired from playing after five seasons with Essex in 2007

Essex coach Paul Grayson believes Andy Flower's appointment as England team director was the right decision.

The pair were team-mates at Chelmsford for much of Flower's five seasons with the county between 2002 and 2006.

Grayson said in his opinion the former Zimbabwe captain was 'the right man for the job'.

"It's obvious he and Andrew Strauss get on very well and I think that's vital in the captain-coach relationship," he told BBC Essex.

"I'm sure those two will take England on to success this summer," he added.

The good thing for us is Andy has seen our players and hopefully one or two of those will get some recognition now Paul Grayson, Essex first-team coach

Flower scored 6,215 first-class runs for Essex at an average if 54.51, hitting 23 centuries in all competitions, before retiring in 2007 to become part of the coaching staff with England.

Grayson said Flower had always been ideally suited to the coaching side of the game.

"He was mentally very strong as a player, technically very sound and liked to talk about the game a lot," he recalled.

"He was always a deep thinker about the game and it was always good to sit down, have a drink with him and talk about cricket."

Grayson also hoped Flower's appointment would boost the international aspirations of some of his former Essex team-mates, such as James Foster, Graham Napier and Ravi Bopara.

"The good thing for us is Andy has seen our players and hopefully one or two of those will get some recognition now," he said.

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