Fletcher ducks spotlight

Just 24 hours after the humiliating nine-wicket defeat to South Africa in Barbados which confirmed England's exit, Fletcher avoided the usual media post-mortem by heading for the Royal Westmorland golf course with captain Michael Vaughan.

Throughout his eight years as England coach, Fletcher has consistently conducted press conferences in the aftermath of games. But with questions being increasingly asked about his future, the 58-year-old Zimbabwean went missing and England - for the first time this winter - refused to allow access to any member of their tour party.

Instead they confirmed David Morgan, the England and Wales Cricket Board's chairman, would hold a press conference on Thursday, fuelling speculation that Fletcher would leave his post at the end of the World Cup.

Andrew Walpole, England's media relations manager, confirmed: "We are aware of the issues being discussed and we feel the best way to deal with that is tomorrow and the best person to deal with it is the chairman."

Asked whether Fletcher had already resigned, Walpole refused to comment and stressed: "I am not going to answer any questions - you can address all your questions to David Morgan on Thursday."

England's defensive stance was prompted by growing calls for Fletcher to leave after a disastrous winter campaign lasting nearly six months.

They slumped out of the ICC Champions Trophy without competing last October and then suffered only the second 5-0 Ashes series whitewash in cricket history. They continued to play dismal cricket in the Commonwealth Bank series until a run of four successive wins enabled them to snatch a surprise success from their desperate campaign.

That lifted hopes England could be competitive in the World Cup but a series of selection blunders left England with only wins over Canada, Kenya, Ireland and Bangladesh to show from their seven-week stay in the Caribbean.