The coach and the driver

This autumn Duncan Fletcher will have been England coach for five years. Already he has overseen more Tests (62) than any of his predecessors and is second only to the Australian Bob Simpson (93) in the all-time list.

His Test stats are healthy (won 27, lost 19, drawn 16), his one-day record less so (44 wins and 42 losses before the NatWest Series). But the figures are only a fraction of the story. Trying to establish precisely what a cricket coach contributes to a team is like trying to nail jelly to a wall. How much is down to him and how much to the captain and players?

Fletcher is a quiet man who prefers to remain in the background while the captain takes the credit or otherwise. When Nasser Hussain was captain, England were characterised as passionate and gutsy. Under Michael Vaughan they are said to be more relaxed. But the coach, who wields far more power over affairs than his captain, is the same man, so these assumptions cannot be entirely sound.

Fletcher's influence spreads far and wide: from inside the England dressing-room outwards. This is an appraisal of what he does and how he does it.

Goals

Like every England coach Fletcher wants to beat Australia and, however many other series he wins, he will be judged on this. But waiting every two years to find out how you are doing - and against an exceptional side - is unrealistic and he says he breaks down his job into smaller periods. "I don't like to look too far ahead," he says.

"Do that, and you forget how to get there. When I took the job I knew it was going to be hard and wanted to know if I was up to it. Then I wanted to see how it went in small periods - and still do. That way you don't get complacent. My long-term aim is just to have a really good side."

Philosophy

Fletcher believes the international game is evolving so fast that, if you take your eye off the ball for a second, you are history. He believes ideas lose their currency so quickly that players who retired only six months ago are out of touch. To stay in touch, you have to be within the dressing-room environment and even then be constantly on your toes.

His role, he says, is to assist players in the never-ending game of cat-and-mouse between opponents probing for each other's weaknesses. If new-ball bowlers start switching their lines of attack from outside Marcus Trescothick's off stump to his stumps, Fletcher's role is to identify the change and help Trescothick counter it, and fast.

"The job's never done and that's the interesting part about it," he says. "You cannot afford to stand still. I talk to the players a lot about that, trying to explain to them what's happening out there. The really good players pick it up just like that. It's like a war. You've got to be ahead of the enemy all the time."

He looks for initiatives in the unlikeliest of places. He has been known to mention Einstein in press conferences. Computer and video analyses are predictable mainstays. His best ideas relate to batting and his greatest tactical success is the improvement in England's play against spin, particularly Muttiah Muralitharan in Sri Lanka in 2000-01. His critics would argue that he is better at reacting to events than instigating them.

Control and selection of players

From the outset Fletcher sought - and largely acquired - control of his regular players. He has come out on top in the perennial club v country battle. Central contracts were already in the pipeline when he arrived and he has had few qualms about using them to pull players out of county games. Ideally he has always wanted 20 players on full-time contracts; at present he has eight, with another four on summer deals (his requests must be approved by the 15-man International Teams Management Group, of which he is a member).

Fletcher's voice is the most prominent in selection meetings and he usually gets his way. He has tried and succeeded to make selection policy more consistent than in the past. Players are given good runs but once they are out, they are usually out for good. Some selection issues have caused friction such as when he and Vaughan dropped Chris Read for Geraint Jones in the Caribbean this year.

Having coached Glamorgan, he came into the job with trusted contacts around the county circuit and uses these to help him in selection. They have helped him pull some rabbits out of hats, such as Michael Vaughan in 1999, Craig White and Trescothick in 2000 and Andrew Flintoff in 2001. "I get a gut feeling about the kind of guy I want," he says. Not that his gut is always right. He once favoured Trescothick ahead of Vaughan for the captaincy, put Graham Thorpe in charge of the one-day side and awarded contracts to Chris Schofield and James Foster.

Experience counts for a lot and he has often favoured old heads over younger ones. He backed off Ian Bell's selection at the age of 20 and last year, when in difficulties against South Africa, reached for 34-year-old Martin Bicknell. He has welcomed back Thorpe and persisted with Darren Gough spearheading his one-day attack. Within a year of taking over he had reversed a decision to put Alec Stewart out to pasture in the 50-overs game.

Attitude to county cricket

Fletcher would like to see county cricketers playing less and practising more. He believes the typical player needs to get fitter (one of his earliest acts was to appoint Nigel Stockill physiologist to the England team) and spend more time honing skills. This is why he prefers to keep England players within his orbit, where he can oversee their preparation rather than leave them in the hands of counties.

Although Tim Lamb and John Carr took flak for the recent proposal to merge the County Championship and one-day league (rejected by the counties), it is in line with Fletcher's desire for a reduction in the amount of county cricket. Though ultimately a failure, the move highlights how close Fletcher came to pulling off a major coup. The counties have tried to accommodate Fletcher (central contracts, improved practice facilities) but this was felt to be a step too far.

Management style

Having drawn his chosen players together, Fletcher encourages them to think of themselves as a unit, hence the use of phrases like Team England and The Bubble. Access to the inner sanctum is strictly controlled. The sense of togetherness is vital and has given confidence to White and Flintoff, both of whom felt alienated under previous regimes, and Steve Harmison.

Fletcher is strong on discipline but does not issue public rebukes. "I prefer to talk to players one-on-one," he says. "The individual feels comfortable expressing himself." He is loyal to players provided they buy into his methods. If they do not, they are liable to find hints dropped to the media that "certain players" have aspects of their games to address.

This happened with Flintoff in 2000 and James Ormond and Usman Afzaal in 2002 when they were short of fitness. Phil Tufnell and Graeme Swann soon learned it was unwise to be late for the bus and, when Stewart and Gough asked to be excused the Tests in India in 2001-02, they were told they would have to miss those in New Zealand as well. Just as the inside of The Bubble is reassuring, the outside can be forbidding.

Players who are loyal to him, though, can expect him to lobby on their behalf. He fought for, and got, a six-week break built into the calendar, savoured for the first time earlier this year, and players can now expect Christmas at home except when England tour Australia or South Africa.

Tactically Fletcher aims to give players defined roles: "Simple, clear ideas work best, with each player knowing precisely what he has to do. This also helps a player to think for himself and take some responsibility."

In the dressing-room, the captain not the coach is in charge. "I do not seek to be high-profile but prefer an active, thoughtful and level-headed behind-the-scenes management role," he wrote last year. "The team have remained a close-knit and well-disciplined unit throughout my time as coach."

Naturally undemonstrative anyway, he shows little emotion in case it transmits itself adversely to the players. "Don't think it means I'm not churning up inside," he said when asked how he could look so calm when England were 2 for 4 a few minutes into his first match in charge at Johannesburg in 1999-2000. When England win, he can be seen jumping up on the balcony with the best of them.

Handling the media

Fletcher was never comfortable speaking in public. He has tried to improve his press conferences but the micro-management of his players rarely interests the daily media. He will stay cool towards the fourth estate as he does not believe they comprehend what is happening within The Bubble (this goes back to his view that the game moves so fast it leaves outsiders behind).

Thus he has few qualms about refusing to allow players to speak to the press if he wants them conserving their energies for the next day. Two years ago he did just this after Vaughan was 182 not out at the end of the first day of The Oval Test against India, a decision that aggrieved reporters.

He concedes his approach sometimes alienates other parties. "I get the players to believe in a team unit by making them imagine they're living in a bubble ... There are times when this makes people come across as distant or unfriendly."

Fletcher file

Born Salisbury (now Harare), Zimbabwe, September 27 1948.
Debut Rhodesia in November 1969.
International debut Zimbabwe v Australia in 1983 World Cup at Trent Bridge. Captains side to a famous 13-run win and is named man of the match for his unbeaten 69 and 4 for 42.
Coach of Western Province in 1993 ... joins Glamorgan as coach in 1997 ... becomes England coach in 1999.