Fletcher must pay for lack of desire

Well, don't say I didn't warn you. This disaster has been steadily creeping up on England for the last 18 months.

Their problem is that the moment they won the last Ashes series, they thought they had climbed the pinnacle of their sport. They have not been the same driven, focused team since.

Somewhere amid all the gongs, the sponsorships and the contracts, some crucial element of desire was lost.

Suddenly England started drawing or even losing games they should have won.

Great players and great teams would have said: “Right, we've beaten you in England. Now the tougher, sterner test is ‘Can we beat you in Australia?'.''

Great players and great teams would have got themselves up for that challenge. When England have won so rarely in Australia, it would have been an even bigger deal to hang on to the urn out here.

Once you have climbed Mount Everest, the next thing to do is to climb it from the other side.

Or all four sides, for that matter. Steve Waugh used to have the motto ‘Never satisfied'. Great players are always stretching themselves for something better, something no one else has ever done.

I remember Brian Clough telling me that when he went to Leeds United, one of the players asked him: “What can you do for us that we haven't done already?'' Clough replied: “I can do the same things again but do them better.''

This England team is not driven at the moment. And that is why we need a new coach, new backroom staff, and new ideas.

My view is that after the Ashes series has finished, the men in suits should talk to Duncan Fletcher.

They should recommend that he takes the team through the triangular and the World Cup, and then retires.

And they should start looking for a new coach for the beginning of the English summer.

There is no question of sacking him now—he's done some good things. But all good things come to an end.

I take a professional, objective stance about what is best for English cricket.

And I think this series has proved my point. Fletcher wanted to stick with the same players who did the job for him in 2005, but it was wishful thinking to believe that they would come right on the day.