barmyarmy said:
5 live in the UK are reporting a rift between Fletcher and several England players before the second test. Apparently Fletcher wanted to play Panesar (!) but the idea was strongly opposed by unnamed senior players. No more info yet but I assume that Freddie must be one. Jones, Collingwood and Strauss are being mentioned as well.
*whistles a folk ditty*
I've said it many times but at the time people didn't seem particularly keen to actually read the facts -
1. Freddie captains England for the first time in India, Panesar is immediately taken out the attack and hidden when India go on the charge despite needing a massive total to win. He goes on the defensive and sticks everyone on the boundary suggesting he had no belief that they could actually win from that situation.
2. England get a draw in India, but in reality India were poor and could, perhaps should, have been beaten, nonetheless it is a fairly decent result with an inexperienced side. Throughout the series Freds field placings are poor, but the press and most fans make a big deal out of how inspirational he is (surely he can do that as a player?)
3. England come home to play Sri Lanka, they start amazingly, but when England are suddenly under a minor amount of pressure to take wickets Freddie immediately runs out of ideas and decides to just bowl himself for 3 days. Field placings are again poor considering the weight of runs he had to play with, tactics are shoddy and bare striking resemblance to India. Bang it in short with no short leg against a side that is merely looking to bat out time.
4. After that disastrous display at Lords where nothing was held, England eventually pay for their mistakes and draw a series they should by all accounts of won. Panesar is again fairly underbowled throughout the series more often than not taking more wickets than some of the seamers and bowling almost half the number of overs.
5. Strauss comes in for the now injured Flintoff, England attack Pakistan, Panesar plays a key part and finishes the series alongside Harmison as leading wicket-taker. England win their first series in 3 attempts.
6. Fletcher describes Panesar as the best finger spinner in world cricket.
7. England name Flintoff as captain for the Ashes, the first test arrives and to everyones surprise Panesar is left out. Two tests later and he still hasn't played, news comes out that Flintoff and Fletcher are the two selectors on tour, and unsurprisingly, the captain has a big say considering on the field he will be in charge of his players.
I think the news that talks about a rift is just stirring trouble to create column inches, but as I've said all along Fletcher isn't an idiot, it has been fairly common practice that the Captain will get the team he wants, because when it comes to the match it will be on his shoulders to get the best out of them, you can't have someone sitting there that he didn't want in the first place.
Throughout his first two series, Flintoff seemed unsure as to how to use Panesar, he has a clear lack of confidence in him and as well as that clearly backs Giles and Jones because they were alongside him when he was last part of a winning series - Freddie hasn't actually played in a winning series since the last Ashes
Anyway, perhaps Fletcher should have put his foot down, but then Freddie would again been left with a bowler that he didn't have faith in, and a rift would have developed between coaching staff and players.
So I summise the biggest mistake of all, was not Giles over Panesar, not Jones over Read, but Flintoff over Strauss, as the others are merely by-products of the original error.