Fletcher's England makes the captain centre stage. Fletcher is the
strategist, the back-seat driver. He heads up a coaching team; it is not
just about one man.

Fletcher has been England coach for seven years so he may well be coming to
the end of his natural span. It was generally assumed that he would go after
the World Cup but the timing of Boycott's comments this week is bizarre, not
to say destabilising just as the Ashes hovers into view.

Although the target of Boycott's criticism is the appalling run of one-day
form, the underlying tone of his newspaper column was that Fletcher was
presiding over a group of players who had become cosy and complacent, also
that Fletcher himself is now beyond reproach.

Unusually for a man in his position, Fletcher is not on a fixed-term
contract. He is a permanent member of staff at the ECB. When he ceases to be
England coach, it seems likely a position would be found for him should he
wish it.

I don't believe Fletcher has exhibited complacency. He has though shown
exceptional loyalty to the players who won the Ashes, even the ones who have
barely played since. He has appeared reluctant to embrace the inevitable
changes. He clung to Geraint Jones until his position became untenable and
he was initially suspicious of Monty Panesar. It is believed that Andrew
Flintoff was not his preferred choice as captain.

Football managers always get the team they want. Maybe Fletcher needs more
power not less.

If he had more power we would still have Jones dropping catches and probably have never seen the quality off-spinner that is Panesar. After a few years together coteries develop that become difficult to break up affecting the results in due course.

It's a very interesting take on the issue. Certainly it is premature to judge at the moment. England have, as on previous occasions, taken 3 steps forward and 2 back with a brilliant summer followed by a winter struggle, although winter after winter injuries have left the attack decimated (only in South Africa and the West Indies did England have a near full-strength attack in the last 4 winters).

Recent history would thus suggest that this winter will be another backward step unless somehow a full-strength attack can be fielded, in which case Duncan Fletcher's position would become very difficult.

However, there is just the chance that England could just exploit an ageing Australian side and get the unexpected 3-0 or 4-1 win that would oust Australia at the head of the ICC Test cricket rankings. While that possibility still exists, it is folly to destabilise Duncan Fletcher's position.

Let's decide in March. If we've lost 4-0 in Australia and been embarrassed in the World Cup, maybe Duncan Fletcher himself would decide to retire. If we've won in Australia for the first time since 1986/87, who cares about the World Cup????

Having coached lower grade cricket, I know how dependent the team's performance was on both good captaincy and the achievements of a star bowler or batsman. The coach's real achievement is to put these players in the right position in the team set-up, and then develop the skills & motivation to get the performance out of them. Once these players are in place, you can build a team around them, & as long as that team is in a grade in which it is competitive, the team has a chance to rise above the level of the lesser individuals & achieve great things.

The Australians are a great side - their record bears them out. They should have beaten the English in 2005, but some crucial things went wrong. McGrath missed 2 matches, the ones his team lost. The batsmen had to face a new (to them) phenomenon - the swinging Duke ball - & refused to adapt to the conditions until it was too late, despite the advice of retired greats like Allan Border & Mark Taylor. Their selectors refused to shuffle the batting pack, leaving out Mike Hussey who has since abundantly proven himself at international level. Ricky Ponting, great batsman that he is, is only an average captain, he is too used to having dominance & didn't really know how to cope with level pegging or struggling situations, or how to buy wickets. I'd like to suggest that some of this at least was John Buchanan's fault, but how much & which bits, & does it really matter?

The English of 2005 were not the greatest team in the world. Not by any means were their players all individual stars: eg Bell (the 2005 vintage); Giles; Geraint Jones. But they were forged into a team, someone always performed except in the 1st test, they were well captained, & they seemed to know how to exploit the way the Australians were not at their best. The emotions of a nation seemed to carry them through many difficult moments as well.

Having said that, had Steve Waugh been in charge of the Australians, I can't see that his team would have lost: he would have ensured that they still had the mental edge. Moreover, put the Australians back in their own environment this summer, thirsting for revenge, & with some English team selections that are interesting to say the least (a lot of semi-crocks there, hmm, Australia appears to be a place where many English players struggle with injuries), & I can't see how the English are going to win again.

So how much difference does the coach make? If it's an already great team, not much. (Although it's still surprising what Terry Jenner can get out of Shane Warne, one of the superstars of the 20th century.) If it's a weak team, a good coach left in place for long enough has a chance to build it up. Indeed, this may be Fletcher's achievement as it was Bobby Simpson's before him. Our New Zealanders went to England in 2004 feeling tremendously confident & excited, & didn't realise how far the English under Fletcher had come. Maybe the Australians of 2005 didn't realise either. But there is no hiding now. Every English weakness will be sniffed out, & we will find out if Fletcher can take this team to a new level of competitiveness, away from home too, or if he has peaked as a coach of this team.

Coaches do reach the end of their shelf life. I found it hard to recognise that my son & his mates had reached a level of achievement where they needed someone with more skills & fresh approaches to enable them to meet stiffer challenges. Coaches can also be excessively loyal to players that have performed for them in the past. If these players have led you to a great achievement as a coach, you will feel a great loyalty to them: they did it for you once, you always feel like they can do it again. Probably your belief in them was part of the key to their, & your, success. Unfortunately, this doesn't always remain true - injury can hamper, form can desert, motivation can disappear, players can simply be inadequate for a new challenge.

Few things are constant in the world of coaching. Some problems are unavoidable. Fletcher can replace Vaughan the batsman, but Vaughan was also the best English captain since Brearley. Other problems are created by a coach's own blindness. Panesar was selected only because there wasn't much choice, Fletcher has had to adapt his preferred strategy to accommodate Panesar's weaknesses.

Coaching takes you through an immense range of emotions, but it is a tremedously rewarding experience to look back on. Virtually every Sunday morning, while worshipping at church, my mind would be going over the previous day's game. I learned not to make any decisions about the team until at least 24 hours had passed. I learned to accept the good & the bad, & that I wasn't a great coach nor was I useless either. I gained memories that made me amazed to have had the privilege of coaching such players, or despairing of their appallingly bad days.

While the time may come for Fletcher to recognise his limitations & step down or be replaced, he should still look back with great satisfaction on his achievements. As Steve Waugh indicates in his autobiography, it is extraordinary that the Australian authorities dropped Simpson as a coach after 10 years, with no thanks or chance to say goodbye. Unfortunately, the end can be like that. But nothing can ever take away an achievement like winning your grade as I had, or retaking the Ashes in 2005 as Fletcher has. The pleasure is in having built a team that can achieve such things, & in having positively affected the lives of some keen young men along the way. I wish Duncan Fletcher well, whatever the future holds.