Former England batsman and now cricket commentator Geoffrey Boycott has called for England to get rid of coach Duncan Fletcher saying he has reached his 'shelf life'.
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Boycott made the controversial comments in his regular newspaper column in the UK's Daily Telegraph after England was virtually knocked out of the ICC Champions Trophy following an opening round loss to India and a six-wicket hiding by Australia.
"Fletcher's weakness has always been the one-day game," Boycott wrote.
"Saturday's latest one-day debacle has confirmed my feeling that the time has come for a change in the England dressing room."
Boycott indicated that he though the Zimbabwean, who was appointed the national coach of England in 1999, had done a good job but had just reached his expiry date as an effective leader.
"I think he has done a good job," said Boycott. "Full marks to him for the way he made England's Test team competitive after the dark days of the 1990s."
"But, after a while, I believe a coach runs out of new ideas and the players get too comfortable and complacent with him."
"He almost becomes too familiar and the players stop listening."
"If you talk to people like John Wright and Bob Woolmer, successful coaches with a lot of international experience, they will tell you the job comes with a shelf-life. And Fletcher has reached the end of his."
Fletcher publicly announced after last year's Ashes triumph that he would like to stay in the job at least until the end of next year's World Cup.
