Enough Already

Nasser Hussein was offering a spirited defence of England coach Duncan Fletcher on Sky last night after England's latest cricketing debacle. Hussein, always a player who let his emotions rise to the surface quicker than most, said that he had worked with the man, had seen him at close quarters and knew that he was capable of moments of genius. The point that Nasser seemed to be missing was that cricket has moved on from that lucky summer of 2005 whilst England patently haven't.

The win in the Commonwealth series after the Ashes whitewash was merely papering over the cracks, just as a series win at home this summer against the worst West Indies side in living memory will also do. Too many players are out of touch, either playing too much mediocre cricket or simply not being coached correctly. It staggers me, and I've said this before, that Matthew Maynard, a player who was noted for his fielding abilities rather than his accumulation of 87 runs in 4 matches for England at an average of 10.87, should be second in command when it comes to coaching the national squad. Where are Graham Gooch and Michael Atherton, yes I know they are involved at county level but they were two of the finest technically gifted players of the past thirty years, surely they should be involved somewhere in the set-up.

Players who built their reputation during the summer of 2005 have gone missing since the ICC Trophy back in the Autumn. Trescothick has got stress problems, Vaughan has more injuries than Michael Owen, Bell, Flintoff, Mahmood, Anderson, Harmison and Monty have all looked pretty hopeless at ttimes and Nixon is too old to be considered a serious part of the future.

Only two players have enhanced their reputations this autumn/winter/spring - KP and Collingwood. It's time to pack your bags Fletcher and give somebody else the chance to sort things out as you clearly are not the man for the job anymore.