During his spell as head coach, Flower led England’s Test side to number one in the world, victory at the 2010 World Twenty20 and Ashes success in Australia in 2010-11.
His captain Jason Holder said it would be wrong to criticise Brathwaite’s decision to go for a big shot when a single would have given him the strike for the final over.
The 27-year-old nearly missed out this time as he was left out of the preliminary World Cup squad, having taken just five wickets in the 14 matches before the recent ODI series against England.
For a multi-format cricketer such as Stokes, a dynamic pace-bowling all-rounder of a similar kind to the now-retired Flintoff, it could be a career-defining summer.