Sack Fletcher? Patent rubbish
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
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Geoffrey Boycott’s call for Duncan Fletcher’s head has attracted most of the headlines in the UK, and reaction to his suggestion is, at best, lukewarm.
In The Times, Christopher Martin-Jenkins is not one to sit on the fence:
With every respect to Geoffrey Boycott’s profound knowledge of, and deep passion for, cricket, his opinion that Duncan Fletcher should be instantly dismissed from his post as England coach is patent rubbish.
Leaving aside the fact that our Geoffrey — whose 48,000 first-class runs at an average of 56 entitle him to an opinion on the art of batting and anything else in the cricketing realm — always thinks that he would be a better coach than the incumbent on the completely erroneous premise that he was invariably a better player than they were, 30 days before England begin their defence of the Ashes is no time to change the coach
In The Daily Telegraph, Mike Gatting shows a glimmer of support for his former England colleague's gripes:
It may be that some of Fletcher's methods are coming back to haunt him He has given the players so much time off over the last few years and now it is looking as though they have not played enough cricket to make themselves consistent in certain disciplines. But I wouldn't subscribe to the view that the coach should be changed at this moment.
In the Daily Mail, Nasser Hussain describes Boycott’s comments as “ludicrous”. He goes on:
Duncan is the best thing that has happened to our game in years and we should be giving thanks for him rather than trying to push him towards the exit door.
If it had been someone else making these comments it would be best to ignore them, but Geoffrey is still a hugely respected figure with an exceptional cricket brain and I worry that people will listen to his views. Boycott likes people who agree with him and there has always been a problem because Fletcher won’t bow down to Geoffrey or indulge him. Boycott has been waiting for this opportunity to go on the attack and he has used England’s poor one-day form as an excuse.
In the Evening Standard, David Morgan, the ECB chairman, gives Fletcher his full backing:
I think Geoff Boycott’s comments are untimely in the middle of the Champions Trophy and at the start of a very important winter. I’ve every reason to believe Duncan is the right man and that he has the full support of the captain, the players and the management team. I find it astonishing that having won back the Ashes [last year] we should have this bold statement that his time is up.
George Binoy is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo