da dobrowin： Behind his sunglasses, Duncan Fletcher is a bitter man – at odds with the world

da bet7k： Will Luke09-Nov-2007

‘That was one mistake I made, wanting to ignore the media’ © Getty Images
For such a poker-faced individual, Duncan Fletcher’s autobiography hascaused a surprising storm. might allude to aman opening up from the shell into which heforced himself throughout his tenure. But behind the sunglasses lies a bitter man at odds with the world.First of all, let’s make one thing clear: this is a cracking book and a proper,human autobiography, unlike most of the anodyne, media-spun drivel onthe shelves. True to character, in a bar in his hotel in centralLondon, Fletcher remains doggedly unrepentant about the Flintofffurore last week, in which the allrounder’s taste foralcohol was revealed in the serialisation of the book. Does he regret not taking a firm stance and stripping him of his captaincy? Does he heck.”Not at all. What would you people have written if we had exposed it,dropped him as captain, and we didn’t win the Commonwealth Bankseries?” he asked. “Will you tell me what you would have written aboutthat tour? Tell me.” Hands in pockets, a challenging look on his face,this was the Fletcher we know. Determined, unashamed, insistent.”Well we won that series. If I had dropped him, the character wouldhave gone and we’d have got in the CommonwealthBank series. We probably would have got bowled out for 60 – who’s tosay? We didn’t. I kept quiet. I was loyal to him [Flintoff], I wasloyal to the team. He let me down. Loyalty goes in two ways. I’m loyalto you if you’re loyal to me.”Fletcher hasn’t spoken to Flintoff, and doesn’t plan on doing so. “He mustphone me,” he says. Flintoff was undoubtedly the key figure in Englandregaining the Ashes in 2005, a triumph Fletcher regards as his finesthour, but there is a seam of pent-up jealousy in him, a feeling thatthe quiet man has been too quickly forgotten.”Look, it was my fault,” he eventually accedes. “That was one mistakeI made, wanting to ignore the media. Maybe I should have made more ofan effort working with them. I just wanted to get involved with theside, to work with them and get them going.” Fletcher’s biggest flaw was to let the burning gaze of publicitythaw his once impenetrable façade For a coach famed for his jowl-drooping demeanour, it comes as little surprise to hear his repeated assertions of the “happy changing rooms” he has overseen, from sunny Western Province to drizzly Glamorgan. More revealing are his thoughts on the nineties, a period offorgettable horror for England, but one that Fletcher – he implies- wishes he could have been part of.”If the teams had been handled properly in the nineties, well, whoknows what would have happened? They should have had a great team.Nasser Hussain, Graham Thorpe, Graeme Hick, Mark Ramprakash. Notforgetting Chris Lewis and Dominic Cork. You just ofthose players. Andrew Caddick, Darren Gough, Angus Fraser… although Ithink Fraser was a plodder – like Sidebottom; not quick enough, and Iwouldn’t have picked him.”How did they perform? Was it because of the influence of players from the 80s – which I think it was – their coaching, their mindsets and so on?”Fletcher is happy to knock Ian Botham, and eager to attack GeoffreyBoycott – two of the 1980s brigade he resents so strongly – but,curiously, less willing to divulge his supporters. Nasser Hussain andMike Atherton were “fantastic,” but he remains intriguingly mute aboutwhich of the current Test side did, or did not, support him.”How many of those former players who have castigated me won anything?Have they ever won a county championship? No. Has Botham? He was atSomerset with Joel Garner and Vivian Richards. Did Somerset winanything? No.

‘English cricket owes Marcus’ © Getty Images
“My track record is there. Prince Edward school captain: it was acrap side but we were successful. Captained the top side in theZimbabwe Old Hararians, left it, went to a second-division side. Tookthem into the first division and were unbeaten champions for three orfour years. Then you go to Glamorgan… and the Lancashire league. Youspeak to them there. They were coming last, and we nearly won it. Wefinished third. So I’m proud of my record.”The angry justification of his record is contrasted by the sadness with which he speaks of Marcus Trescothick’s illness.”I don’t often say this, and I don’t want to go overboard, but Englishcricket owes Marcus a bit, for all the stick he took… and yet he’s sucha fine cricketer.” He shakes his head, if not quite in disbelief, thenin remorse.”You look at his Test average, his one-day cricket, but on top of allthat he is the most passionate of cricketers. He just loves the game.He just loves cricket. He’s just such a nice guy in the changing room,a gentle giant. He was just a pleasure, always funny – always pullingeach others’ legs the whole time. He was fantastic.”But Trescothick is part of the past, something you sense Fletcher is struggling to let go of.”I was trying to put across my side of the story and the difficulties I had as coach,” he says of the book, with an exasperated sigh. Is this the fixed-faced, tough-as-steel Fletcher we know? When has he ever cared a jot what the public, let alone the media, think of him?Even protected by his shades, Fletcher’s biggest flaw was to let the burning gaze of publicitythaw his once impenetrable façade. As his ship sank, the book was one last desperate plea for recognition; maybe even for acceptance. It is a sad end to an outstanding tenure.