In today's Guardian, Duncan Fletcher is back. The former England coach has been a regular in the pages of said periodical since he left his previous post and, frankly, his column has been as full of the same banalities as his press conferences and the same loyalties to the same, small coterie of players as typified and, ultimately, brought down the Fletcher era.
This week, Fletcher is talking about the South Africans and the threats that they will pose. His three players to watch were the most eye-catching part of the piece, the rest of it being the sleep-inducing rubbish we're accustomed to. With his wide ranging knowledge of the game and tactical insights, could we expect him to highlight someone that's maybe slipped under the radar a little? Perhaps an up-and-coming youngster unknown to English audiences? Yeah, right. Instead he's gone for Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis and Dale Steyn. That's 241 Tests combined scoring 17102 runs and taking 436 wickets between them. Hardly going out on a limb. Why not inform us about Wayne Parnell, even if he is well known to county audiences, and Yusuf Abdulla, the two young left-arm seamers who look the real deal? No mention of Roloef van der Merwe moving from a one-day specialist to the Test arena or the exciting batting of Loots Bosman.
He played it safe, too safe at times, as a coach, and so it continues as a columnist.
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