Fletcher must be close to leaving. Post Ashes and World Cup, he will have had 8 years in the role, and ready for something new, with less travel and more time to himself and his family.

My guess is that he will become an equivalent to Chairman of the board as Peter Moore’s becomes the new CEO.

Boycott is right in that his self life is almost up: But he will leave on his terms; and leave the team and the organization in the best shape it has been in since the 50’s.

There are two issues here: ODIs and Tests.

England’s poor run in ODIs simply cannot go on. We’re paying top dollar to watch our team get thrashed every match. In his seven years, Fletcher is clearly not the man for the short form of the game.

In Tests, the man is a genius. Boy, we have short memories. Boycs’s suggestion that he step down now is nothing short of bonkers. He has transformed England from a wobbly jelly into a world-beater.

So, do we keep Fletch in for the Tests, and seek a specialist for the ODIs, like Chris Adams, perhaps?

Here’s the tricky part, England’s success in Test matches over the last few years has come, to some extent, at the expense of the ODI team. Fletcher has picked inexperienced sides, so that when an injury comes along, the Test side remains stable. Is that a sacrifice we’re willing to make?

I’m all for bringing youngsters in, and blooding them for the bigger arena, but we can’t maintain the current situation of struggling to make 150 in 50 overs every game. It’s just not fair to the viewers. England’s ODI set up needs an extreme makeover. With all our talent and resources, we are playing pitifully. Christ, Uganda could
beat us on current form. What the hell is going on? There’s a world cup next spring, which we should have been building towards for the last four years, and we’ve gone backwards.

Australia managed to sit at the top of the ODI and Test game for a decade. England ought to be able to do it, too.