Fletcher sacked?
Well, not yet, but Angus Fraser thinks he should be. There are really no holds barred in his attack on Fletcher. After giving Fletcher his due for a resurgence of cricket, Fraser has, seemingly unprovoked, decided that Fletcher should go.
Duncan Fletcher is the finest leader England have had but it is time for change. The current set-up, which Fletcher heads, is tired and stale, and there is no sense of fun about the England squad as they go about their work.
It is not his job to be pleasant to the media but I find it hard to believe that, with the flick of a switch, he becomes a vibrant and stimulating presence in the dressing-room. Coaching England is a demanding job and it seems to have taken its toll. It is why Fletcher’s regime has developed a sense that an era is coming to an end. The players need a fresh voice and ideas to stimulate them…
At the end of the Ashes I was looking for a response, a sign that what took place in Australia was a blip. But that, sadly, has not taken place. Injury has not helped the side’s cause but England have continued to plod along. Supporters enjoyed the Commonwealth Bank Series victory but the one-day team’s form over the past 18 months suggests it was something of a fluke.
Fletcher seems to have developed the attitude that he and his coaches have every corner covered, too, and there is nothing anybody from the outside can tell them. This is foolish because nobody knows everything about the game.
This is a most unexpected outburst. Ironically, most commentators are likely to be in agreement with his thoughts, but what unites everyone is an agreement that the timing of the tirade is entirely inappropriate. Despite Fraser being on the Schofield committee - the committee put together to evaluate English cricket following the Ashes - he has a right to his opinion. But as a member of the panel, to make such committed statements will do the integrity of the panel no good especially in the middle of a major tournament.
When asked, Fletcher was typically ambivalent about the piece, saying that he wasn’t interested in commenting, and that his job was to see England through to the semi-finals of the World Cup. Fair enough. Hopefully though, it’s because he didn’t want to impinge on his retirement speech, which presumably he wrote a long time ago.
Tags: angus-fraser, cricket, duncan-fletcher, England, its-just-not-cricketRelated Stories
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