An interesting extract on the wicket-keeping front... FLETCHER: We had to pick Jones as Read had no fight in him | the Daily MailNow playing alongside senior colleagues who think THAT is pressure....

Course it's a load of codswallop, it was in the main a Fletcher/vaughan Read thing.

It really did not matter a jot what Flintoff and others thought in 2006, the damage was done in the West Indies in 2004.

Well this reminds me of what Vaughan did to Flintoff in Australia in 2006, he had no right to be there, and certainly had no right to be involved in any selection decissions.

Likewise but moreso, Graveney had no rights at all in the Windies in 2004, as Fletcher and Vaughan were the sole tour selectorsm Graveney was just an observer, the fact that he got involved makes one wonder why Vaughan was diciplined for his part in the 2004 fiasco, when all three were part of a unholy trinity.

This also shows that there was no faith in Read, and this STEMMED from the fact that Fletcher undermined him in 2004 on the Windies tour, abbeted by Vaughan, and now it seems by David Graveney.
I would have thought at least two other resignations would be in order here, Fletcher down ......

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Ern

You will be blaming Vaughan for Flintoff's alcohol problems next Ern.

Fletcher has come up with quite a few reasons why he didn't think Read should be playing Test cricket but what he hasn't mentioned and the one I think that bothered him the most which was not going up for everything on the off chance it would get given. I have seen times when the slips and bowler have appealed and Read has said no, the batsman didn't nick it. That is one of the things I liked about Read. At least the umpires would more likely to trust him as they would a batsman who walks.

Read never made a case for himself. I am not saying he wasn't good enough its just he never stood out and said there is no one else you could possibly pick.
Test cricket requires the highest standards and if you are just doing okay but no more the selectors and the coach will be open to alternatives.
Dhoni is an example of wicketkeeper who won't be dropped.

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"Checkout the big brain on Brett" Pulp Fiction

Reading the article its clear that Fletcher (and others) didnt rate Reads keeping.

I can also see his point about Read not being strong when Colly and Warne had their little spat. Could you ever imagine, say, Ian Healy being silent if Mark Waugh was getting into a sledging battle with the batsman?

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Mark.

Dhoni is a an example of a player who SHOULD be dropped!

On a more serious note... the most interesting comment in Fletcher's extracts is the one attributed to Russell:
I was very much in Read's camp in the Read vs. Jones discussions (despite thinking Piper should never have been allowed to retire)... and I'm conscious that Russell quite obviously took to Jones in a way that he never took to Read (self evident from Russell's own comments elsewhere)... but several commentators actually praised Read for knowing where his first slip was, and for having the discipline to let the first slip take his own catches (where Jones tended to go for almost everything).

That said... I've long been wondering whether Russell's coldness on Read was well founded: it's notable that he gave Simon Guy a better glovework reference!

Bottom line: whatever issues anyone could have with Read's 'keeping... he remains far, far better than Jones and Prior!

I would take Russells judgement over many of the so called "experts" in the press! I may be mistaken but was Read Russells understudy at Glous before Read went to Notts??


Agreed!

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Mark.