“I would sack Fletcher” says Close

Former England captain Brian Close believes England coach Duncan Fletcher should be sacked following the recent Test defeats.

Close told the Yorkshire Post that England “don’t have a price in hell” of retaining the Ashes and followed that up by saying “I don’t think Fletcher is improving the England players; I think his time has come to an end.”

Close continued on twisting the knife by saying “In my opinion, Fletcher is finished, and I question the value of coaches full-stop. In our day we didn’t need a coach, we coached ourselves. We talked about the game, the captain was in charge and the players responded to what was required.”

He did have some praise for the England coach however by saying “Fletcher has got some things right over the years, and you can’t grumble about the fact that we beat Australia last year.”

Close captained England in seven Tests between 1966 and 1967 and all together played 22 Tests and three one-day internationals in his career.