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The reason for England's undoing?

May 17, 2006 15:31 IST

Duncan FletcherMost English cricket fans are asking how England could allow Sri Lanka to wrest a draw in the first Test against the hosts at Lord's.

And some are suggesting this picture holds the answer.

English cricket coach Duncan Fletcher (in the picture) is left-handed, and cricketer-turned-columnist Derek Pringle says that is the reason why England dropped so many catches in the slip cordon and let the Lankans off the hook.

'Fletcher is left-handed, which means the slip cordon mostly get to practise that way round. Assistant coach Matthew Maynard and team manager Phil Neale both offer right-handed variation, but this is occasional at best,' Pringle writes in The Daily Telegraph.

The former medium pace bowler says the snicks Fletcher gives English cricketers during catching practice feel very different from a right hander's snicks.

And he cites the five catches England dropped of right-handed batsmen as proof that Fletcher being a southpaw is one reason why the English slip fielders were sloppy against right handers.

As far as theories go, it might seem outlandish. But then again, Pringle might have just spotted something everyone missed.

Photograph: Max Nash/AFP/Getty Images

rediff Cricket Bureau