England reject tour manager

Duncan Fletcher will continue to combine his role of head coach with that of tour manager in all of England's overseas series.

Following a report from the ECB on the 2002/03 Ashes series, the proposal for a separate tour manager was rejected.

Dennis Amiss, the International Teams Management Group (ITMG) chairman, produced the report which also recommended measures to be taken to improve day-to-day communications on tour. As a result, Fletcher will report directly to John Carr, the ECB's director of cricket operations, rather than to the chief executive.

Carr is to receive a daily bulletin from Phil Neale, the team operations manager, and new protocols are to be put in place to ensure the management, ECB personnel and the Professional Cricketers Association are appropriately updated on administration and injury news.