Fletcher Autobiography Takes Aim at 'drunk' Flintoff

Having kept a low profile in the six months since he resigned as the England coach, it has suddenly become quite apparent what Duncan Fletcher has been doing with his time. His new autobiography, Behind the Shades, will be released on November 5, and extracts from it are being printed in the Daily Mail throughout this week.

The Mail and Fletcher's publishers have secured maximum initial publicity for the first installment with some shocking revelations about Andrew Flintoff's conduct when he was England captain last winter. Flintoff was infamously stripped of England's vice-captaincy and dropped from the team during the World Cup after that pedalo accident. Fletcher's book makes it clear that the severity of that punishment was a direct result of his previous, and before now unknown to the public, indiscretions.

"It came to my attention that after one of the one-day matches [in the CB Series], Flintoff had spent the whole night drinking with Ian Botham and had only got to bed at 7am the following morning," he said. "I did not do anything about it at the time because you have to be careful with rumors." However, Fletcher goes on to reveal that Flintoff's antics got worse as the series went on.

"We went to Sydney for a vital match against Australia and a fielding practice was arranged for 10am. Flintoff turned up still under the influence of alcohol ... Flintoff was in such a state that he could not throw properly," Fletcher continues. "And when it came to catching the ball I honestly thought I was going to hurt him, so uncoordinated was he".

Fletcher reveals how close he was to sacking Flintoff at that point, reporting that only some words of advice from Michael Vaughan ("he agreed, but then cautiously said: 'have a chat with him first and see what he says'") stopped him from doing so immediately. Flintoff had also spent the night after one of England's Test defeats together with Steve Harmison drinking in the Australian changing room till past midnight.

He delves into the issue of awarding Flintoff the captaincy in the first place, revealing that "his heart said Freddy and his head said Strauss" when it came to making the decision. When he decided to go for the former - the other two selectors, Geoff Miller and David Graveney, were split as to who England should choose as captain - he was aware that "if Flintoff had not been captain he would be a huge hindrance to the side. It was his benefit year and he would have concentrated on that."

Most damningly, in what is clearly a very bitter attack, Fletcher concludes: "Sadly, I was soon to discover that he [Flintoff] was unsure of what true leadership is."