Road Ahead for Duncan Fletcher

[Chandan]

^ I read that in the paper this morning and was going to post it, it is impressive in its briskness yes. He does like more of a hand in team seleciton dosent he? Do you think its a good thing or not that he will not have a say?

I don't think our coaches ever had any say in the selection, Their suggestions might have been been taken just as that of captain. But that is it. Final decision always was taken by selectors. All the coaches can do is give their reports about the players as the physios too. Selectors can look at them and then take their own decisions. Poor Duncan will have to go through that. Think he'll like it, as it reduces responsibility. All he'll have to do is motivate the given bunch of players by selectors and prepare them for a tour/series/tournament in the best possible way to get the best out of them. This is another good article that I read in guardian: Duncan Fletcher's last hurrah with India will be a different challenge Duncan Fletcher had to drag England up from the depths; now as coach of India he must handle a team starting at the very top Mike Selvey guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 27 April 2011 It looks as if the succession was in hand all along. Gary Kirsten had an enduring relationship with Duncan Fletcher as a young player for Western Province so is as familiar with his ethos and methods as any and, of course, in the primary position to make a judgment on who may be most suited to take on the unique task of coaching India, perhaps the most challenging role in the game outside actually playing. Kirsten's success as national coach gave him absolute credibility with the players, administrators and supporters alike and his recommendation, which Fletcher's appointment appears to be, would carry consequent weight. For Fletcher, this will be one last grand coaching hurrah. His failings with the England side in Australia in 2006‑07 and in the 2007 World Cup, disasters both, should in no way camouflage the debt owed by England cricket, which even now is reaping the benefits of the structures he put in place. His success in regaining the Ashes in 2005 from one of the most powerful teams ever to take the field remains one of the outstanding England achievements in any era. But there was success in Pakistan and Sri Lanka, in the sort of conditions in which England traditionally struggled to compete, and in South Africa, too. He also drew a Test series in India. So he brings with him a considerable CV, more substantial in fact than that of the man he succeeds. Why he feels he needs the challenge at 62 is another matter. Since leaving the England job he has filled his time with consultancy positions, at Hampshire, and with the South Africa and New Zealand sides. It has helped to keep him in the loop. Has he missed the more permanent contact and influence that he could bring to bear? Presumably the Indian authorities made him a financial offer he would find hard to refuse, although clearly he took the job strictly on his terms rather than be required to fit into a system that did not meet with his approval. The retention of Eric Simons, the bowling coach who also worked with Fletcher at Western Province, is testament to that. Fletcher may give the impression of being a curmudgeon, and at times an autocrat, but Kirsten and of course MS Dhoni will recognise and appreciate someone whose qualities tend to involve working in the background. He has never craved attention, believing that as it is the players ultimately who win or lose games, then it should be they who have the profile. He was always keen to set up a business‑style structure – whether it was at England or Western Province, or Glamorgan before that – in which the captain was viewed as the chief executive and himself as managing director. If there were ever any doubts that whoever was appointed it would be Dhoni, along with Sachin Tendulkar, who ran the show, then they have been dispelled by Fletcher's advancement. His first task will be to form a relationship with Dhoni. With England his bond with Nasser Hussain was immense, but those who believed that Hussain's departure would preclude a similar relationship in the future, underestimated Fletcher's pragmatism: that with Hussain was seamlessly replaced with an equally strong relationship, with Michael Vaughan. Whatever it was to the two England captains, to Fletcher it was always business. He will, no doubt, operate on a similar basis to Kirsten which, given the nature and stature of the players he had, was consultative. He did not reside in India for any length of time, but commuted as and when necessary. It is unlikely, then, that Fletcher will uproot from his Cape Town home. Now he faces a challenge of a different kind to that he faced when he took over England more than a decade ago. They had reached the bottom of the heap and it was by instilling the team values, with the aid of a determined captain who sought respect before popularity, that he gradually helped drag them up. This is different for, as it stands, India are the top-ranked Test side and World Cup holders. There is an analogy, of sorts, with the situation in Australia when Steve Waugh handed on the captaincy to Ricky Ponting. Waugh chose his moment well for, although Ponting would enjoy great success with an established side, it was always going to fragment. Fletcher will enjoy being associated with one of the finest of all batting line-ups, but will do so in the knowledge that it is rapidly ageing. So he may see his main role not as maintaining the performance of the star players, but of bringing on the next generation, not just batsmen but bowlers, where there appears to be a dearth of emerging talent. He will do so knowing that, as with West Indies fast bowlers, things in all probability will never again be the same. He will also know that a decline during his tenure is almost inevitable.

[vijay810]

Well when Gary Kirsten was appointed ....I had thought ......"what the hell?". Well time showed I was wrong. Lets give Fletcher 2 years. Who knows he may be a bigger success . With tours of England and Australia coming up perhaps thinking was he knows the teams better so might help India more in strategy .

[Cricket Tragic]

He will be judged by the big overseas series and it was one of his big achievements with England.

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Fletcher expected to attend selection meeting of Indian team for ODIs vs WI More... Fletcher expected to attend selection meeting ESPNcricinfo staff May 8, 2011 Duncan Fletcher could fly down for the May 13 selection meeting to pick the one-day squad for the West Indies tour Duncan Fletcher, the newly-appointed India coach, is likely to fly down to Chennai on May 13 to be part of the selection meeting to pick the squad for the one-day series in the West Indies next month. It has been understood that Fletcher was keen to attend the meeting as that would also allow him to get acquainted with his new bosses as well as the selectors and MS Dhoni, the India captain who will also be in the city which is the base of Chennai Super Kings, his IPL franchise. Fletcher, who was England coach for eight years, took over his new assignment immediately after Gary Kirsten decided not to renew his contract with the BCCI at the end of the World Cup. Fletcher's appointment is for two years and though both the employer and employee have not revealed the terms of the contract, it is believed to be the same as that of Kirsten. That means Fletcher will reportedly not have any selectorial vote, but will be present during the selection meetings along with Dhoni. Also present at the meeting on Wednesday would be Eric Simons, who worked with Fletcher at Western Province in the first half of the 1990s. Simons, picked by Kirsten two years ago to be part of his support staff two years ago, was retained as the bowling coach by the Indian board. Simons is likely to play the role of the interim coach for the Caribbean tour after the BCCI said that Fletcher might not be part of the West Indies tour as he had prior commitments to fulfill. In that case Fletcher will start his innings against England, a team he built from scratch eventually leading to Ashes glory in 2005.

[Cricket Tragic]

He is new and doesn't have a vote. I don't think that he should attend selection meetings.

[fineleg]

Cric Tragic, Why should he not attend? Coaches & captains traditionally don't have official-selection-vote in India. But if other coaches have attended sel. mtngs, why can't DF? And all coaches are 'new' in their first meeting!!

[ganeshran]

He will also get accustomed to how the system works in India which could be very different from what he faced in England

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Road Ahead for Duncan Fletcher More... Fletcher's Road Ahead Angikaar C | 11 May 2011 Foreign coaches in India, in whatever sport, are never at peace. Former disgruntled greats are always quick to lash out. They question whether a foreigner will be able to adapt to Indian culture, the weather, cuisine. The one question which is never far away is: does India suffer from a paucity of home-grown talent that it continously feels the need to search amidst foreign shores? Sunil Gavaskar, for one, would not agree; in the days following Duncan Fletcher's appointment as the fourth consecutive foreign coach of the Indian team, he opined that Mohinder Amarnath would have been a better choice as 'the core of the Indian team today is from the Hindi-speaking belt'. Now that Duncan Fletcher's been appointed, he has an interesting challenge on his hands. The Indian media predictably has already bombarded TV screens and newspapers with all the nitty-gritties of his life. As a result, pretty much every Indian cricket fan now knows that Fletcher was born in Rhodesia in 1948, captained Zimbabwe to a win over Australia in the '83 World Cup and became the coach of the South African domestic team Western Province in 1993 before leading them to victory in the first-class and limited-overs competitions. His record with England has been discussed threadbare: a dream spell up to the 2005 Ashes before plummeting to depths of woe. It has been said that Fletcher has never been a very media-friendly man. He will face his toughest test when he confronts the Indian media, who have never been known for subtlety. The Road Ahead So, what lies ahead for the new Indian coach? First and foremost, his equation with the current poster boy of Indian cricket, Captain Cool himself, Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The bond forged between a captain and a coach has the capability to either destroy a team or inspire them to newer and greater heights. Ganguly and Wright instilled that never-say-die spirit in the team in 2000 which later in 2011, was harnessed to its fullest potential by Dhoni and Kirsten. In between, Greg Chappell and Rahul Dravid had a disastrous time, as India sought to experiment a bit too much and promptly were eliminated from the 2007 World Cup in the first round. Fletcher's equation with Dhoni is certainly a task uppermost on his agenda. The relationship Dhoni and Kirsten shared has almost become the stuff of folklore; it is well-known that Kirsten preferred letting Dhoni enjoy the limelight, while staying in the background himself. It would not be a bad idea for Fletcher to do something similar. He forged a very successful partnership with Michael Vaughan and Nasser Hussain, who both swear by his man-management qualities. Dhoni however is different from the two. He is cool, calculating, but not averse to going by his gut feel. He will not like anyone interfering with his captaincy style, especially after he's won a World Cup. Where Fletcher can probably help Dhoni is with his batting. Not to say, Dhoni is a bad batsman; he's still among the very best in limited overs. But his batting in Test still provides scope for improvement, and Fletcher can probably sit with him and try and sort out some technical frailties. The Little Master Second to Dhoni, Fletcher and Sachin Tendulkar should have some interesting conversations. Only Sachin knows how much cricket he has left in him and probably it is a lot. Going by the odd chance that Fletcher still hasn't figured out the kind of hold Sachin Tendulkar has in Indian cricket, he probably will in the next few months. But, being the senior most player in the team today, he will have a lot to share with Fletcher. Fletcher should sit with Sachin in his initial few days at the helm, as Sachin would be the best person to give him the lowdown into the madness that is Indian cricket. Fletcher, known for being meticulous, also has to ascertain from Sachin how much cricket he has left in him, whether he will continue to play limited overs cricket etc. Though this sounds blasphemous, it is for the good of the team, after all, as this will help Fletcher plan and build his squad for the next few years. The usual suspect: Bowling How long does Zaheer Khan have? Fletcher needs to answer that, and answer that fast. Because, despite a World Cup win, the Indian bowling stocks are desperately thin. Harbhajhan Singh is still there, true, but despite being very effective over the past few months, he still does not resemble the 'Turbanator' of his prime. Go beyond those two, and you have a long list of people capable of bowling effectively, but unable to be called strike bowlers (Ashish Nehra, Munaf Patel, RP Singh, Ishant Sharma, S Sreesanth, Piyush Chawla, R Ashwin, Amit Mishra etc) Kirsten did a damn good job with the thin resources available to him and the onus is on Fletcher now. Zaheer Khan has been shouldering the burden for too long and he needs a worthy sidekick. As mentioned before, there are already too many contenders and plenty still coming up in the Indian domestic circuit. Somehow, in some way, Fletcher needs to groom someone into becoming world-class. Maybe, he could try and harness an Ishant Sharma who has briefly in the IPL, looked vaguely similar to the bowler who hurried and heckled Ricky Ponting. Or perhaps he can guide the mercurial Sreesanth who on his days can destroy a South African team in their own backyard? Balancing the new and old This is one issue which is pertinent only for the Test team and does not apply to India's ODI and T20 teams. The future of Dravid, Laxman and though it sounds blasphemous, Sachin. The sheer class which Dravid and Laxman bring to the Indian test team supersedes every other concern, whether they being too old or anything else. But retire they will someday, and this retirement day looms sooner rather than later. Fletcher needs to form a fair idea about them and start grooming their replacements. There are already talented Indian batsmen coming through the ranks but their biggest test will be on the Test arena. This is where Fletcher must identify and recruit potential replacements. Kohil is the next big thing in Indian cricket but he still hasn't been properly tested in Tests. There are players like the extremely talented Chetestwar Pujara and Murali Vijay who are also knocking on the doors. It would actually be foolish to think of a replacement for Sachin. What Fletcher needs to ensure is a proper transition from one era to the other. A bunch of stars retiring all at once will lead to a Australia-like situation which will only spell doom. Fletcher must, at all costs, avoid that. The BCCI and Fletcher Indian coaches have a notoriously fickle relationship with the BCCI. They are praised to the skies one day after a comprehensive win. The next day, the Indian team loses by 10 wickets and the BCCI are quick to blame the coach. The mad, chaotic world of the BCCI is completely different from the professional setup of the ECB which Fletcher was used to. His capability to adjust again will be tested; what will also be tested are his networking skills. Whether his relationship with the selectors, the cricket officials or even the men who call the shots, Fletcher needs to maintain absolute neutrality. The corridors of cricket power in India are well known for being entrenched in a lot of wheeling and dealing; there will always be characters who will want a favour and two. Dhoni and Kirsten also shared an uneasy relationship with the selectors; there were even times when Dhoni admitted he was not very happy with the team selected for him. Probably after a World Cup victory, Dhoni should get a bit more leeway regarding selectorial decisions, and Fletcher should use his immense cricketing acumen to help Dhoni spot rapidly rising talents. The Immediate Goals The number one team in Tests and the World Champions in ODI?s are still no 2. in the ODI rankings. And though Dhoni might say that rankings don't matter, Fletcher's first job is to get them to the top in the ODI rankings. And for India to truly establish their dominance over the game, they will have to maintain that No 1. over the next few months. India tour West Indies in June-July, a tour where the Indian team will now be expected to dominate. Fletcher will probably join the Indian team in earnest when India arrives in England for the start of a long tour. This will be India?s first tough assignment as they seek to defend their No 1. status. It will be slightly ironical for Fletcher as he will seek to defeat England, a team he created with his own sweat and blood, with India. Tours to Australia also loom in the offing which will give Fletcher another chance to avenge his 5-0 whitewash in 2006-07. In 2012, Sri Lanka hosts the T20 championship. Dhoni, being the ambitious man he is, will want to pull off an unprecedented treble: being world champions in all three forms of the sport. Duncan Fletcher has a job on his hands. And it promises to be a fun time for Indian cricket.

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Fletcher to attend first media conference More... Fletcher to attend first media conference NDTV Correspondent Thursday, 12 May 2011 Chennai: Newly appointed coach of the Indian cricket team Duncan Fletcher will interact with the media on Friday, May 13 at 10:30 am in Chennai. The Media Conference will precede the Selection Committee meeting to pick the Indian squad for the tour of the West Indies in June-July 2011. Fletcher's contract however, which is identical with his predecessor Gary Kirsten will not allow him to vote in team selections. The conference is also expected to finally reveal who all will be rested for the Windies tour in the view of the extensive cricket Indian players have seen in the last two months. Dhoni is expected to be in Chennai during the meeting as his team Chennai Super Kings will be playing against Delhi Daredevils on Thursday. India's bowling coach Eric Simons will also attend the meeting in Chennai as he is likely to be in-charge for the tour of Caribbean before Fletcher takes over in England.

[Cricket Tragic]

Fletcher is a disaster when it comes to the media. :facepalm:

[Cricket Tragic]

Don't really care about the the ODI ranking. The World T20 is a mickey mouse tournament. The focus should be on the 3 overseas test tours coming up.