Pressure on England brass to quit

Cricket: Former England captain Bob Willis has called for Duncan Fletcher, David Graveney and Michael Vaughan to be sacked following…

Cricket:Former England captain Bob Willis has called for Duncan Fletcher, David Graveney and Michael Vaughan to be sacked following the humiliating World Cup exit.

And he also laid into all-rounder Andrew Flintoff, accusing him of "batting like a blind man".

England's devastating nine-wicket defeat by South Africa in Barbados - they were booed by the Barmy Army - saw Willis and England legend Ian Botham join in condemning the team.

Willis told Sky Sports: "Heads will roll and those heads should be Graveney, Fletcher and Vaughan, they've all got to go.

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"England have to behave as Australia did after the embarrassment of the 2005 Ashes defeat.

"We have to start planning now for the next World Cup. They should get out the birth certificates and anyone who is 32 or over now, they're out of it.

"We have to get young players into the side and that preparation should start with the one-day internationals against the West Indies."

Willis added: "It is all very depressing and, I'm afraid, utterly predictable.

"One has to say it was the same old story again. England's batting in one-day cricket recently, apart from Paul Collingwood and Kevin Pietersen, has been embarrassing.

"Vaughan couldn't get any runs, they couldn't decide whether [Ed] Joyce or [Andrew] Strauss should play and Flintoff has been batting like a blind man unfortunately. "

Botham said: "We have good players but they need a new direction."

He added: "Duncan has done some great things for England and we shouldn't forget that but everyone has a shelf life and his has expired.

"The camp looks split and in disarray. I don't see how he can motivate them now.

"I hope the ECB are thinking that way and looking at change, not sitting on their hands.

"The World Cup (challenge) is over, England have been humiliated, change things now."

A third former England skipper, Nasser Hussain, was another who was critical of England's displays but while he urged a serious rethink over Vaughan's role, he did offer some support for the under-fire Fletcher.

"They came up well short but for a long time England have played a different type of one-day cricket to everybody else.

"It's time Michael Vaughan had a look at his position. Michael hasn't done it in one-day cricket.

"I would like to see him go back to county cricket and get some runs, become the touch player he was," Hussain said of the man who replaced him as England skipper.

"For a variety of reasons he hasn't made runs for England for two years. He has to rethink the art of batting.

"But for me to say Fletcher must go, he (his potential replacement) would have to a be a very good coach.

"He'd be replacing someone who I think is one of the best coaches I've ever worked with."

Meanwhile Vaughan insists he has no intention of retiring from one-day cricket but accepts he and Fletcher could lose their jobs

"I'm an honest guy who says my position is hugely in doubt due to my batting," said Vaughan to the BBC after yesterday's nine wicket defeat to South Africa. "But I still believe I'm a very good captain - I'm not retiring."