BARBADOS: CRICKET: Michael Vaughan pays tribute to departing England coach Duncan Fletcher and West Indies coach Bennet King does the same for Brian Lara

England coach Duncan Fletcher and West Indies captain Brian Lara will step down on Saturday (April 21) after England play hosts the West Indies in the last World Cup Super Eight match. On Friday (April 20) Fletcher and England captain Michael Vaughan took part in fielding practice, with Vaughan making some unfortunate drops. Afterwards Vaughan spoke about Fletcher, who will be replaced by England academy director and former Sussex coach Peter Moores. "I know how much he has done for English cricket. I said to him whatever happens on Saturday, he can walk back to his house in Capetown, have a few beers, play a great round of golf and be very proud because of what he has brought to the game, what he has brought to individuals in this team, and what he has brought to a lot of individuals around the game," Vaughan said. Fletcher's resignation was announced on Thursday after England were dumped out of the World Cup second round following some dismal performances. Zimbabwean Fletcher, 58, took over in 1999 and led England to second in the test rankings. He will be best remembered for a 2-1 home Ashes series win over Australia in 2005. But a 5-0 mauling in Australia in the return series and a miserable World Cup left his position untenable. "I think it is time for someone new to come in. I am hugely behind the appointment of Peter Moores because I think he will do a great job. I think Duncan has chosen the right time to move on. I think the happenings of the last few months and where the team have been at on the playing field has been an area of concern and Duncan has made the right decision to move on," added Vaughan, a close friend of Fletcher. Vaughan will continue as test skipper for the home series against West Indies starting on May 17 but the media have questioned his one-day role after a string of low scores in the World Cup debacle. "I've not got much of a leg to stand on. When you don't score runs and you lead England to a team that gets knocked out of the World Cup. But I am a very determined bloke and I'll be going back to Yorkshire to try and get my form back. I'm a hundred percent committed to make sure that I play in that test match on May the seventeenth and try to get as many runs and more importantly an England victory. We need to start winning games of cricket. Some of these things that we are talking about may be taken out of my hands. But I love playing the game of cricket, and just because one, two, three maybe many more are saying get rid of him or resign, I won't let that happen because I just love playing cricket," Vaughan said, after England bosses failed to confirm him as one-day captain on Thursday. As well as Fletcher's farewell, Saturday's game at the Kensington Oval in Barbados will be West Indies captain Brian Lara's last international appearance. The 37-year-old Trinidadian holds the record for the top test score (400 not out) and highest in the first-class game (501 not out). He amassed 11,953 runs in 131 tests and 10,387 runs in 298 one-day internationals. The 400 not out was scored against Fletcher's England in Antigua in 2004. He also held the record in 1994 after scoring 375, again in Antigua and again against England. Lara had already announced he was quitting one-day internationals at the end of the World Cup but had been expected to lead the side on the tour of England which begins in May. West Indies coach Bennett King paid tribute to him. "Look. He is a genius. He is a person who could hit balls in virtually any area of the field off the same sort of ball. He could do things that other people couldn't. He was very resiliant. He always stayed on the field, hardly ever came off the field. He was a tough cricketer. I think his mental fortitude was amongst the best I've seen. Tactically sometimes he could be a little bit different to what people think. But I think with the side that we've got and with the skills that we've got we have to try different things. Because generally its very hard for us to take some wickets or to create some opportunites to win. We was prepared to take a risk and I encouraged him to take a risk. I think we are losing a wonderful cricketer. A cricketer who brought people through the turnstiles. We don't want to create robots and he was certainly one of a kind."

ITN Source | April 22, 2007

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