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Proteas too big for their boots: Flower

November 18, 2009 11:09 IST

England coach Andy Flower has accused South Africa of being too big for their boots.

Flower hit back at the home side's attack on England's tactics following their hammering in Sunday's second Twenty20 match.

Flower reckons their status as the world's No 1 team might have gone to their heads.

His contempt for some of the South Africans' comments was clear when he said: "I went through my career as a player - and I will continue to do so as a coach - in as modest a fashion as possible.

"Perhaps their status as the No 1 ranked team is encouraging them to react differently. You would have to ask them why they said these things. But I'm very clear about how I want to approach the balance between being confident and modest," The Sun quoted Flower, as saying.

Flower was reacting to South Africa coach Mickey Arthur's comment that England's cricket was "predictable". He also joked that, when Jonathan Trott and Kevin Pietersen were batting together, there were 15 South Africans on the field.

Despite Arthur's comments, South Africa bowling legend Allan Donald, reckons his country's current attack is close to crisis.

Donald said: "You can see Arthur and Graeme Smith are worried - the bowlers are not where they should be. The vibes I'm picking up is they are worried they won't be able to take 20 wickets in the Test matches."

Donald was commentating for Sky Sports during its live and HD coverage of England's tour to South Africa.

Source: ANI