Andy Flower: on the verge of England appointment © Getty Images

Andy Flower is widely expected to be unveiled on Wednesday as England's new full-time director of cricket, having overseen the team's fortunes in an interim capacity during the recent tour of the West Indies.

Flower, 40, stepped up from his assistant role in January, following the dismissal of the former head coach, Peter Moores. Though England's results were mixed during a turbulent 11-week tour, he impressed the selectors with his work ethic and formed a strong bond with the captain, Andrew Strauss, which was rewarded with a last-gasp victory in five-match ODI series that followed the Tests.

According to reports in the weekend papers, Flower's salary will be approximately £250,000, and his appointment is set to be announced at Lord's by Hugh Morris, the managing director of England Cricket, at 12.30pm on Wednesday, in time for Flower to take his place at the head of England's selection committee for the first Test against West Indies, also at Lord's, which begins on May 6.

Having called upon the professional headhunting firm, Odgers Ray & Berndtson, to help pinpoint the ideal candidate for the role, the ECB were left - partly by design and partly by accident - with what Morris described as "a very short shortlist". One high-profile target, Western Australia's coach, Tom Moody, chose not to put his name forward, while another, Kent's coach Graham Ford, the former favourite for the role, withdrew from the nomination after criticising the long-drawn-out nature of the process.

Other names mentioned but since ruled out include the coaches of South Africa and India, Mickey Arthur and Gary Kirsten, while Warwickshire's Director of Cricket, Ashley Giles, was told he lacked sufficient experience.

John Wright, the former India coach who is now New Zealand's high performance manager, is one of Flower's few genuine competitors for the role. "Wright is with New Zealand cricket," Justin Vaughan, NZC's chief executive, told Cricinfo. "Any comment around the England job should be left up to John."

One factor in Flower's favour, in the short term at least, is the sheer volume of cricket faced by England's cricketers in the coming months. After a period of intense upheaval, encompassing the loss of three captains and a coach in the space of four months (and with a fourth captain in the pipeline for the World Twenty20), the time has come for some consolidation at the top, especially with the Ashes looming in early July.

It may have taken Flower until the final weeks of England's tour to register his first victory in the role, but on his watch the team has put a greater onus on personal fitness, which will prove invaluable given that most of the squad faces a non-stop 11-week schedule in the run-up to the Ashes, starting with the IPL in South Africa for several key members, including Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen.

Furthermore, Flower will also have to make a call on the readiness of the former captain, Michael Vaughan, for a return to the Test side. He quit the captaincy in August on account of a prolonged run of poor form, and he made just 12 for MCC against Durham in the season opener at Lord's last week, but Vaughan's reputation in Ashes cricket could well count in his favour, especially if doubts continue to linger about his competitors for the No.3 spot, Ian Bell and Owais Shah.

Link by Cricinfo