Fletcher hopes the losers now will be later to win (31 August 1999)
Duncan fletcher, who begins his two-year term as England coach on Oct 1, has selected his first team on a principle outlined by an American minstrel
31-Aug-1999
31 August 1999
Fletcher hopes the losers now will be later to win
Michael Henderson
Duncan fletcher, who begins his two-year term as England coach on
Oct 1, has selected his first team on a principle outlined by an
American minstrel. "I'm living in a foreign country," Bob Dylan
used to sing, "but I'm bound to cross the line. Beauty walks a
razor's edge, someday I'll make it mine."
It may not be profound but, for this newcomer, it is apt.
Fletcher is a foreigner, with an outsider's detachment, and he
lacks neither motive nor opportunity. As for beauty, we shall
have to wait and see. Roses do not bloom freely among the
concrete and tyres of English cricket. One wishes the man from
Zimbabwe well; one suspects he will struggle to make it to the
other side, as David Lloyd did before him.
Contrary to what some people may think, he inherits the job at a
good time. England are considered the worst team in the world and
the public mood is for change, at almost any price. That should
work to Fletcher's advantage because improvement, however slight,
will be easily gauged. He promises blood and sweat, though no
tears as yet, and he seems to have a comrade in Nasser Hussain.
Will it work, though? Will the 17-man party announced yesterday
help restore confidence within the team, and in the team? They
will not win the five-Test series this winter because South
Africa are a strong, united side keen to make up for their
disappointment in England last summer when they played well and
lost 2-1. What they must do is take that first decisive step
towards regaining international respect.
Fletcher and Hussain can award themselves high marks on four
counts. They have recalled the Lancashire all-rounder Andrew
Flintoff and picked three players without Test experience:
Michael Vaughan and Gavin Hamilton, of Yorkshire, and Graeme
Swann, of Northamptonshire. They get half a mark for choosing
Chris Adams, the Sussex captain, who is earmarked to bat at No 3
or No 4 in the Test team.
They would like to award themselves another high mark for
sticking with Alec Stewart, who will keep wicket and bat at No 5
or No 6. They see Stewart as being good for another year, at
least, of Test cricket. Accordingly, they will stand or fall by
their judgment, which, to other eyes, appears flawed.
One day, however distant it now seems, when monsters emerge from
the Rhine and overrun continental Europe, when China and Africa
collide, even - I know, this is stretching things - when Alan
Hansen acquires some humility, Stewart will still be pulling on
his pads. His latest inclusion, ahead of Mark Ramprakash, is not
scandalous. It is, in fact, quite predictable, but it is
depressing all the same.
When Hussain declared he was unafraid of making the changes
necessary, and when Lord MacLaurin spoke of prominent casualties
(in the plural), they were having everybody on. The only casualty
is Ramprakash, a careworn soul, but a batsman who has not
disgraced himself in the last 18 months.
He is not alone in his bafflement. This season, Aftab Habib was
called in from county cricket, and dropped. Mark Butcher was
promoted to captain and, one game later, dropped. Ed Giddins was
selected, and dropped. Stewart, short of form, has survived and
now goes to South Africa with his reputation enhanced, as the
first-choice gloveman, a responsibility that was taken away from
him earlier this year.
The implication is obvious: Hussain cannot bring himself to
confront what needs to be done and should have been done the
moment Stewart was deposed as captain. To make a fresh start, he
had to make this single symbolic act, to turn the page. He ducked
it then and now, with Fletcher holding his hand, he has ducked it
again.
David Graveney, the chairman of selectors, said that "after an
extensive investigation of all options", they had gone for
cricketers who could contribute with bat and ball, and respond to
the abrasive cricket they can expect to meet with fire of their
own. Hence the selection of Adams, who, at 29, is not in the
first flush of youth but who has won good notices for his
leadership of Sussex.
The selectors were obliged to offer Darren Maddy an extended
opportunity (though they denied it to Giddins) and they will
expect Vaughan to justify their decision with performances worthy
of his background. The former captain of the A team has long been
regarded as a cricketer for the future and that future has now
arrived.
As Flintoff and Hamilton, who can bowl, are really all-rounders,
the bulk of the quick bowling will be done by five men, three of
whom must prove their fitness before the party leave. Darren
Gough, the most important of the three, claims to have overcome
the calf injury that has kept him out of the side since the World
Cup, but we have heard all this before. Until he bowls his first
ball in the first Test at the Wanderers ground in the last week
of November, neither he nor anybody else can rest easy.
Dean Headley, who has been troubled by a dodgy shoulder, should
be fit. Alex Tudor, on the other hand, is a major worry. Plagued
by knee trouble, which restricted his appearance this summer to a
single Test, in which he bowled indifferently but made 99 not
out, he must be rated doubtful for the tour. He has an appalling
fitness record for a 21-year-old and it will be no surprise if
England have to summon a replacement before the plane leaves.
In view of the permanent fitness worries surrounding Gough and
Tudor, it beggared belief to hear Graveney draw attention to
Giddins, who, apparently, "has some work to do on his overall
fitness". He must wonder what sort of upside-down world he has
been drawn into, and whether every player is treated in an evenhanded way.
Although Phil Tufnell eventually won the spinner's vote, he will
probably not play a significant part on a tour that will
reacquaint England with Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock on some
lively pitches. Which brings us back to the opening song, Shelter
from the Storm. By January, Fletcher may not be the only soul
seeking respite.
Source :: Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk)