Fletch shifts blame to players

England coach Duncan Fletcher has blamed his batsmen for their loss at Adelaide, insisting that the team selection was correct.

While expressing how badly the defeat had hurt him, Fletcher said, “We lost that match in that hour, hour and a half yesterday morning, that is where we got it wrong with the
batters.If we had batted well there and continued in a real positive vein, who knows what could have happened.”

Interestingly though, he wasted no time in clarifying the selection procedure, stating, “Remember at this stage that I am not the sole selector on this tour. From our point of view, sure there is a lot of anger (at Panesar’s non-selection). But we have got to sit down and say `what do we think is the best side, with all of the knowledge that we have got around within that group of people, what is the best side to win a test match’. I’m not the one who just says `right, this is what we are going with’. A discussion took place and we as a selection panel thought that was the best side to win that test match.”