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ADELAIDE - England cricket coach Duncan Fletcher senses the knives sharpening but says the proverbial blades shouldn't be pointed solely in his direction.
Fletcher staunchly defended England's team selections for the Ashes series as a chorus of former English captains queried the decisions.
England went 2-0 down in the five-test series, contriving to lose the second test in Adelaide on Wednesday by six wickets after scoring 551 for six declared in their first innings.
Fletcher says timid batting instead of cautious selection was a reason for England's meek capitulation in the second test.
He conceded there was anger in England at the decision to overlook potential game-breaking spinner Monty Panesar, a non-selection considered evidence of an overtly defensive English outlook in this series.
"Remember at this stage that I am not the sole selector on this tour," Fletcher said yesterday. "From our point of view, sure there is a lot of anger [at Panesar's non-selection].
"But we have got to sit down and say 'what do we think, what is the best side to win a test match?'
"I'm not the one who just says 'right, this is what we are going with'.
"A discussion took place and we, as a selection panel, thought that was the best side to win that test match."
Fletcher said himself and captain Andy Flintoff had the final selection say after consulting with senior players Andrew Strauss, Paul Collingwood and Geraint Jones.
They favoured mild-spinning Ashley Giles and ineffective swingman James Anderson ahead of Panesar in decisions lambasted by English ex-skippers Ian Botham and Nasser Hussain.
- AAP
