Cricket: Fletcher's England challenge

NASSER HUSSAIN, the current Essex captain and Duncan Fletcher, Glamorgan's Zimbabwean coach, have replaced Alec Stewart and David Lloyd as England's captain and coach respectively.

The appointment, announced at Lord's last night, was not the world's best secret. Neither is their task, which like that of their predecessors, is to turn England into a team whose talent rather than being glimpsed on occasion is displayed rather more permanently.

Captaining recent England sides has long been an arduous task and Hussain's first job will be to sit down with Graveney and the other two selectors to pick the Test side for next Thursday's first Test, at Edgbaston.

Fletcher, who takes up a two-year post at the end of the current season, at least has a few months to size up the challenge before him. Mind you, it could be a challenge that may have grown heads should England not win the forthcoming series.

Hussain, recently appointed skipper of Essex, was overjoyed and will be the first cricketer of Asian origin to captain England. "This is a huge honour," said Hussain, "the biggest one in the game and I'm delighted and immensely proud to accept the selectors' invitation to lead the England side. It's now time for us to look forward rather than reflect on what has gone before and to focus all out efforts on achieving a consistently winning side."

Fletcher, who will only have met Hussain on Essex duty, and the England and Wales Cricket Board have taken an uncharacteristic risk by throwing together two relatively unknown quantities.

Apart from Glamorgan, Fletcher also coaches Western Province. Based with his family in Cape Town, he has clearly had to think long and hard before accepting a job that will have more than its fair share of upheaval for all those concerned.

"The job of England coach is a big one," said Fletcher, "and I'm under no illusions about that. But it is also a tremendous challenge and one I am looking forward to immensely. A strong England team will benefit the whole game, both domestically and internationally. It is something we all want to see and I am confident we can achieve that aim by a combination of discipline, determination and hard work."

The decisions to appoint the pair came from different sources, and while a panel assembled by the ECB came up with Fletcher, it was David Graveney and his fellow selectors, Graham Gooch and Mike Gatting, who plumped for Hussain.

Announcing the appointment, Graveney, who along with Gooch will take control of the side against New Zealand, said, "We have had some good results in the past year, most notably our series win against South Africa, and our victory in the Melbourne Test against Australia was memorable.

"However, we failed to regain the Ashes, we lost heavily in the finals of the Carlton and United Series in Australia, and our failure to reach the second stage of the World Cup was a huge disappointment."

If losing the Ashes used to mean instant dismissal, the current disparity between the strength of the sides means it was probably not the sole reason for Stewart, the previous captain, to be sacked. By nature a staid thinker, Stewart's main problem was the burden he took on by being his side's wicketkeeper as well as one of its top-order batsman. Predictably something had to give, and of the three it was the captaincy, the least natural of his tasks, with which he was relieved.

Typically, Stewart was quick to congratulate Hussain, saying: "I have always enjoyed playing for England, whether as captain or player and look forward to giving `Nass' all the support he may want or need. We made our Test debuts together in Jamaica almost 10 years ago and we have always got on well. It goes without saying that situation won't change."

In a break from tradition, the term of Hussain's appointment will not be fixed and will last until either the selectors or captain decide otherwise. This is a sensible option and does away with the pressure some captain's have of forever glancing over their shoulder.

At the moment, Hussain will be looking straight ahead, though once the hullabaloo has quietened down, he will have to see what those in his team require as well. If this has been one of his downfalls in the past, he must be aware that a captain's role is an all-embracing one. Once he has got used to that, it should fit as snugly as his favourite baseball cap.

Fletcher, a consummate

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