I suppose it was inevitable that doubts as to Fletchers future as Englands coach would have come up after England lost the Ashes to Australia this week.
Well I have been vocal about the squad the selecors sent to Australia, but the truth is as the dust settles Fletcher has done a lot for England, he guided England to back to back wins against thw West indies, he also guided England to a 3-0 win over New Zealand, and an away win over South Africa.
The he masterminded the England Ahses winning series of 2005, not a bad record when you yhink aboout it.
It seems like a rift between the ECB and Dunkan Fletcher IMO, relations betwenn the two sides seem cold.
Seems like Graveny wants Fletcher gone.
Full story click here
Myself I think he has made mistakes, but I think if he goes it will put England back 10 years, does anyone think he should go - and if so who COULD replace him.

__________________
Ern

The end of the World Cup could witness a right bout of musical chairs on a coaching front: I'd not be surprised to see half the international coaches switch sides!

I'm sure the ECB and Fletcher have noted that Fletcher's best chance of landing a job that ensures he's happy to leave will come at this moment. I'm not sure what he would seek to do next... but I bet the SA board has noted that he's looking like a possibility... and the ECB might be thinking they can agree terms to save millions in severance pay if he can be tempted in that direction!

I doubt Rod Marsh would take the job (though he'd be my first choice). Tom Moody might well be on the target list.. as might Bob Woolmer (though I suspect the latter would suit me even less than Fletcher: he's another bits-n-pieces man).

Let us not forget that despite the terrible management and selection of this tour, Dunc has taken us to no2 in the World (and for some time as well).

I propose the following :-

i) Dunc stays on as head coach

ii) Kevin Shine is replaced with another specialist bowling coach (Alan Donald, Bruce Reid, anyone with any pedigree)

ii) A ODI specialist coach is appointed, with an influence on training tactics and selection (Hollioake, Fleming, Fairbrother, Daffy - take yer pick)

How about John Buchanan? He will be looking for a job after the world cup too - maybe England might use him. The guy revolutionised the way coaching is done and is the most successful coach in the history of the game.

__________________
The thought police are everywhere..............

To be fair, Troy Cooley (54 first-class wickets at 61) hardly has much 'pedigree.' It's about getting the right person for the job. Kevin Shine wasn't plucked from the air, and of course is not going to immediately build up the rapport with the players that Cooley had. But he has to be given time and not made a convenient scape-goat.

If Fletcher does go, and I am far from sure that's what I wish - I agree 100% with Rod Marsh, I think England could flourish under Marsh.
I have had another change of heart - England bolwers looked world class when Troy Cooley was here, I hope the musical chairs bring him back.
I don't think somehow he would take on the England job, also i was getting fed up with Fletcher - but when I really thought about it, he has brought England a long way.

Australia could do worse than hang onto John Buchanan I cite "Australua V England" 2006/07 .

__________________
Ern

Personally i'd be hoping for anyone BUT Rod marsh and John buchanan.

Buchanan had the easiest job in the world when he came to take over Aussie. They were already by far and away the best team, and as Steve Waugh ran a helluva lot of everything. Spouting Sun Tzu didnt ever make anyone bowl better, but already having warne, mcgrath, gillespie and macGill helped, as did having hayden, langer, slater, ponting, waugh x 2 etc. Aussie also had the best domestic competition to produce good hardened players, such as hussey who couldnt break into the team!

Marsh struck a great many people in english cricket (such as vaughan, hussain, atherton) as somewhat of a plonker. He was against Graham Thorpe playing for the side as he was "too soft", also didnt rate Collingwood, Tresco or Fred.

He did however rate Chris Read as "one of the best wicketkeeper-batsmen in the world" and while I'm sure many people would acede to the wicketkeeper part, if Chris Read is a capable bat, I'm Curtly Ambrose. marsh had a great job, train the young lads (of which he did a very good job) and then trumpet them endlessly in selection ahead of better players. I'm all for loyalty, but you cannot polish a turd.

Marsh quit over the (unfair) axing of chris read on tour, saying they had made a mistake, sure enough, after only two years and 5 Test series wins (NZ, WI, SA, Aussie and pakistan) our hero Rod was proved utterly right, Fletcher and all the players had shown they could do nothing without rod's genius, so rod, humble guy that he is, respectfully decided to do some gloating articles about fletcher in the guardian. what a guy. What an example.

I do think an ODI specialist coach, possibly with the option of running camps with the ODI squad at regular intervals would be a good choice. it's clearly secondary in Fletcher's view, and whilst he has had some inspired picks at Test level, his ODI hunches are about on a par with Bumble.

Good point.The Cooley efforts weren't seen straight away and if Shine is as good as they think we may not see the benefits until the next crop of bowlers take over from Cooley's mob.Only Hoggard is bowling anything like since Cooley left and i don't think Cooley improved Hoggard anyway.