Fletcher looks ahead
Steve James, in the Telegraph , reveals how Duncan Fletcher, the former England coach, has moved on after the fall-out arising from his controversial autobiography.
ESPNcricinfo staff
25-Feb-2013
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Steve James, in the Telegraph, reveals how Duncan Fletcher, the former England coach, has moved on after the fall-out arising from his controversial autobiography.
Fletcher is at home in Cape Town, "waiting for something interesting to come along", as he puts it. He's in no rush. He is also unusually philosophical. There have been offers of employment, but life has not been without its complications since his resignation from the England job a year ago yesterday.
Not being one to want sympathy, it's not a subject he talks about easily, but his delightful wife, Marina, has been unwell. Cricket has quite rightly been put on the back-burner. For long periods Fletcher has been in charge of domestic duties. For a dedicated family man - a proud grandfather now - it has been a difficult time. Thankfully the worst appears to have passed.
James also says that it was not Fletcher's intention to "humiliate" Andrew Flintoff after disclosing his problems with drinking.
As Fletcher's ghost-writer I know that he did not set out to humiliate Flintoff. Those close to the game know there was much, much more that could have been said. But Fletcher did feel horribly let down. Nobody in his entire life had disappointed him as much as Flintoff had on that last fateful Ashes trip.There were gripes aplenty in the book. Maybe I could have tempered them more. On more than one occasion Fletcher said to me: "I think I'm having too much of a go at people."
Ashok Ganguly is an editorial assistant at Cricinfo