 Fletcher with India in 2015 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | (1948-09-27)27 September 1948 (age 77) Salisbury,Southern Rhodesia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Left-handed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Right-armfast-medium | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Relations | Allan Fletcher (brother) Ann Grant (sister) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| National side | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ODI debut (cap 3) | 9 June 1983 v Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last ODI | 20 June 1983 v West Indies | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1969/70–1979/80 | Rhodesia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1984/85 | Western Province | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Source:Cricinfo,24 December 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Duncan Andrew Gwynne FletcherOBE (born 27 September 1948) is a Zimbabweancricket coach and former cricketer, who has coached theEngland andIndian national teams. He led the Indian team to be the winners of the2013 ICC Champions Trophy, where the team was undefeated during the tournament.
He was England coach between 1999 and 2007, and is credited with the resurgence of the England team in Test cricket in the early 2000s.
Fletcher was born in Salisbury,Southern Rhodesia (modern dayHarare,Zimbabwe) and was one of five brothers in a Rhodesian farming family. The family moved fromKent to Rhodesia in 1933. Fletcher performed hisnational service as a Rifleman in theRhodesia Regiment between 1966 and 1967 and joined the regular force in theRhodesian Light Infantry in 1967 and attained the rank ofStaff Sergeant in 1975. He then went on to Officer School at the School of Infantry in 1975 and was commissioned as a lieutenant in theRhodesia Regiment Territorial Army battalion. He left the Army in 1980 as a captain.
As a player, Fletcher was a member of theRhodesia cricket team during the 1970s, which at that time participated in the South African domestic competition, theCurrie Cup; he also played in South Africa forWestern Province. Following Zimbabwe's independence in 1980, Fletcher became captain of theZimbabwean team, leading the team to victory in the1982 ICC Trophy.[1] This meant that Zimbabwe qualified for the1983 Cricket World Cup in England; in their opening match atTrent Bridge, Fletcher was man-of-the-match (scoring 69 not out and taking 4/42) as Zimbabwe beatAustralia.[2]
Fletcher coached Western Province andGlamorgan in first-class cricket, before being appointed as England coach in 1999.
Under Fletcher, England achieved series victories away to Sri Lanka, Pakistan, West Indies and South Africa between 2000 and 2004. In 2004 they won an English record eight consecutive Test matches, beating New Zealand 3–0 and West Indies 4–0 at home, respectively, before winning the first Test in South Africa. In September 2005 he became the first coach of the England team in 18 years to win anAshes series when England secured 2–1 victory over Australia. As a result, Fletcher was awarded theOBE and in September 2005 was awarded British citizenship after a five-year wait. Although both his parents and all of his grandparents were of English descent, he had been denied citizenship because he had spent most of his time whilst living in England touring abroad with the England team. After the Ashes series win of 2005, the Home Secretary,Charles Clarke, intervened to award Fletcher his citizenship.[3]
Fletcher received criticism after preferringAshley Giles toMonty Panesar as England's main spinner in the first two Tests of the2006–07 Ashes series; Giles took three wickets in two Tests, while Panesar, when given the chance in the third Test, took five wickets in the first innings and three in the second innings. Following defeat to Australia by 206 runs in the third Test on 18 December 2006 which saw England relinquish the Ashes 15 months after gaining them, theEngland and Wales Cricket Board confirmed that Fletcher's position as head coach was under review. Despite a brief reprieve in early 2007 when England won theCommonwealth Bank Series, Fletcher came under increased criticism as England performed poorly in the2007 Cricket World Cup, culminating in a nine-wicket loss toSouth Africa in which the team were booed off the field by England'sBarmy Army. His eight-year tenure as coach ended following England's final World Cup match against theWest Indies on 21 April 2007.
While England were successful in Test cricket under Fletcher, the fortunes of the one-day side plummeted, and the only major success in one-day cricket during Fletcher era came three months before his exit in the 2007 Commonwealth Bank Series against Australia.
In November 2007 Fletcher confirmed that he was considering a switch to rugby, stating "I'd like to be a rugby consultant. I have some ideas...I love my rugby, I would rather watch rugby than cricket. I'm passionate about it, it's the game I'd like to have been involved in." At the same time his autobiography,Behind The Shades, was published.
In November 2008 it was announced that Fletcher would take on a consultancy role withHampshire County Cricket Club for the 2009 season.[4] Days later he took a similar role with the South Africa team ahead of their Test series' against Bangladesh and Australia.[5]
Fletcher was appointed coach of theIndia national cricket team on 27 April 2011,[6] with a two-year contract, having been outgoing coachGary Kirsten's recommendation.[7] Under Fletcher's coaching, the India achieved eight series victories in a row, including winning the2013 ICC Champions Trophy in 2013. His contract ended after the2015 Cricket World Cup and was not renewed.[8]
Fletcher's sister,Ann Grant captained theZimbabwe women's national field hockey team whichwon the gold medal in the1980 Summer Olympics inMoscow. His brother,Allan Fletcher, played seven first-class games forRhodesia in the late 1970s.
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