My News
20.04.07
The Times - I’m a Fletcher admirer but it’s time for change
This may surprise a few people, but I am actually quite a big fan of Duncan Fletcher. There has been plenty of niggle between him and the Australia team over the past couple of Ashes series, but there always seemed to be some method behind Fletcher’s niggles. He was always trying to stir it up with the opposition, especially when England were playing Australia, but in a funny way I liked that.
There’s no doubt that he toughened England up and made them into a better team and, despite their results last winter, you would have to say that, all in all, he did a bloody good job.
But everybody has their use-by date and Fletcher has reached his. England have won only five out of 18 Tests since the Ashes in 2005 and something has gone wrong.
What made us laugh in the Australia dressing-room about Fletcher during the last Ashes series was how often the England coach would contradict himself in his public statements. He would often change his story, depending on whether it suited England or not, just to try and have a go at us. And although there may have been method behind his madness, I think he did sometimes say things to suit what was best for Duncan Fletcher.
The big problem for England seems to be that winning the 2005 Ashes series was seen as their pinnacle. That was their goal and they achieved it, but since then there have been too many players with other things going on that have distracted them. Several have become involved in a lot of sponsorship deals and, as far as I can tell, some of the players these days would turn up at the opening of an envelope.
You’ve had Alastair Cook, for example, writing newspaper articles after he’s played only a handful of Tests. At his stage of life, he should be spending every spare minute on establishing himself in the England team, then worry about making money when his place is secure. As the old adage goes, if the cricket’s going well, everything else will take care of itself. There have been so many activities like this going on around the England team that they’ve taken their eyes off the ball.
When you’re losing cricket matches, you can blame the coach, you can blame anybody, but ultimately the responsibility for results comes down to the players.
Which brings me to my main point about coaches: I don’t think there is any need for them at international level. As Ian Chappell has said: “The only time you should need a coach is to drive to and from the ground.”
Rather than a coach, an international team should have a team manager, or co-ordinator, who acts as a facilitator for his captain. Beyond that, the captain should be in complete charge of everything to do with the cricket.
If something is going wrong, that’s when the manager has the responsibility of bringing in expert help. No one coach knows everything about the game.
When I need assistance, I talk to Terry Jenner (the spin-bowling coach), who knows my game inside out. If one of the Australia batsmen are struggling, they might consult Ian Chappell. The point is that by the time you become an international cricketer, you’ve been through most of the game’s ins and outs and you should know what you need. This may not be true of some younger players, but they can turn to senior players for advice.
Before long, I think that international teams will come back round to the role of a team manager. The big disadvantage of having so many powerful coaches is that players have forgotten how to think for themselves. Too many rely on others telling them what to do. The new England coach should be someone who is without ego and lets players use their brains. That’s how it was back in the 1970s and 1980s, which I believe was cricket’s heyday.
The other big issue facing England is the make-up of the one-day team and, much as I’m a fan of Michael Vaughan, he hasn’t justified his place in the side. He has to remain as captain of the Test team, but it’s time for England to pick their best 11 one-day players.
I’d be looking to bring back Marcus Trescothick as soon as possible, provided that he has resolved his personal issues, and I’d also want to bring Owais Shah and Dimitri Mascarenhas in to freshen things up. Keep Ian Bell to open with Trescothick, put Shah in at No 3, with Pietersen, Collingwood and Flintoff to follow, have Mascarenhas at No 7, Nixon at No 8, Panesar No 9, with Anderson and either Broad or Tremlett as the pace bowlers. Then pick your captain from that XI.
England have some good players when they manage to gel, but it’s definitely a time for change.
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