England cricket coach criticises practice facilities

Calcutta, India, January 13: England cricket coach Duncan Fletcher on Sunday lashed out at the practice facilities here ahead of the upcoming one-day series against India.

"We are feeling frustrated about the practice arrangements here," said Fletcher.

"As such we have been forced to play one more one-dayer, otherwise we could play one more practice match."

England were originally scheduled to play five matches, but later agreed on an additional one-dayer at the request of Indian cricket Board chief Jagmohan Dalmiya.

The tourists, who arrived here more than a week in advance to adjust to the conditions, have been practising at the Calcutta Cricket and Football Club ground instead of the Eden Gardens, venue for the first one-dayer on Saturday.

"We hoped to get decent facilities with three nets," said the England coach.

"Though the club tried its best, the arrangements were not up to international standards. The type of shots we want to play in matches cannot be played here because of the poor quality of the wicket. We had to undertake more bowling practice than batting.

"We talked to the Indian cricket board, but were told that the Eden Gardens would not be available because of security reasons," said Fletcher.

Dalmiya, also the president of the Cricket Association of Bengal which hosts the match, however refuted Fletcher's charges.

"The Eden Gardens cannot be used not because of security reasons but because of logistical arrangements," said Dalmiya.

"The present arrangements were approved by both the boards before the tour started.

"Though it was originally agreed by both Indian and England boards that the visitors would practice at Eden only on January 15 and 18, we somehow accommodated practice sessions on all four days prior to the match."

The tourists are scheduled to play a warm-up game at this ground before taking on the hosts in the first one-dayer.

The other five one-dayers will be played at Cuttack (January 22), Madras (January 25), Kanpur (January 28), Delhi (January 31) and Bombay (February 3).