Fletcher a shade angry with Sunny remarks

England cricket coach Duncan Fletcher has flayed batting maestro Sunil Gavaskar for his ‘derogatory’ remarks about England’s ...

England cricket coach Duncan Fletcher has flayed batting maestro Sunil Gavaskar for his ‘derogatory’ remarks about England’s performance after their last tour of India, saying he had lost respect for him after those comments.

In his book ‘Ashes Regained — The Coach’s Story’, Fletcher said the former Indian skipper had not appreciated how well England played in India, “especially as we were missing so many key players.”

He quotes Gavaskar as saying: “Why our cricket board are keen on having a five-Test series when England visit India next is beyond comprehension for, without the slightest doubt, they are the most unattractive and boring side to have played cricket in India.”

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“After these comments, I lost respect (for Gavaskar),” the coach said.

Fletcher said the comments might have been made because “he (Gavaskar) had a problem with the English press rather than the cricket team.”

“In 2003, Sunil Gavaskar made some particularly derogatory comments about the England team’s performances in the recently finished series in India. He had described our approach as only being ‘good for people suffering from insomnia’,” he said.

Fletcher goes on to quote Gavaskar as saying: “Thank god it was a three-Test series and not a five-Test one, for Indian cricket would have lost a great number of spectators seeing the fare dished out”.