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ECB and selectors meet to discuss NatWest Series
CricInfo - 22 June 2001

England coach Duncan Fletcher and his fellow selectors will meet ECB officials tomorrow to discuss what went wrong in the NatWest Series and see what lessons can be learned.

England lost all their six games – four of them comprehensively – in the triangular competition involving Australia and Pakistan. They have now lost 11 One-Day Internationals in a row.

Selectors David Graveney and Geoff Miller will join Fletcher in the meeting at Lord's and can expect some tough questioning although the meeting is intended to be constructive.

"To lose all six matches is not good enough," said ECB chief executive Tim Lamb. "We need to review where our performance has gone wrong in this series and also to talk to the selectors about their strategy for the future, particularly in regard to one-day cricket.

"They met for three hours on Wednesday to talk about that and we've called the selectors in to have a review. It's not a witch-hunt, it's a constructive discussion because we're all responsible.

"We think it's a responsible thing to do as a senior management team, to conduct a little bit of an inquiry into what has gone wrong over the past few weeks and hopefully to satisfy ourselves that the selectors have a robust plan in place.

"I think England supporters would want us to look at this situation because 6-0 is not good enough. The wheels have come off during this tournament and it is our duty to hear what the selectors have to say although there is no suggestion that heads are going to roll."

In fact, Lamb offered a vote of confidence to the selectors ahead of tomorrow's meeting.

"We have total confidence in Duncan Fletcher, we have total confidence in the selectors and they are all contracted to the end of the 2003 season," he stressed.

"This is a sensible review. It's not usual we lose six matches out of six in a one-day series and it's the right thing to do under the circumstances.

"It's not a panic measure; we just think as senior managers of the game, we owe it to the many English supporters who are very disappointed about the performances, to conduct a review into what went wrong."

Graveney welcomed the meeting as a chance for both the selectors and the ECB hierarchy to air their views.

"A meeting like this had to happen and it's better sooner rather than later," said Graveney. "We've learned a lot from this tournament and likewise I'm sure the young players have learned a lot.

"We've played two of the top one-day sides in the world and I'd defy any team with the possible exception of Australia to be able to cope with losing four or five key players through injury like we've had to do.

"The Board want to know what we're doing to put thing right and that's fair enough - I don't see it as a blood-letting exercise."

© CricInfo Ltd.


Teams England.
Tournaments NatWest Series