Fletcher stands firm

Ashley Giles trudges off after failing to trouble the scorers on the last day © Getty Images

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Coach Duncan Fletcher defended his team selection after England slipped to a shock defeat on the final day of the second Ashes Test.

Speculation was rife before the Test that Monty Panesar would be recalled to play alongside Ashley Giles as a second spinner against Australia at the Adelaide Oval.

But England kept faith with the side that lost the opening Test in Brisbane by 277 runs.

“The reason for that, we have said on numerous occasions, is that we want to bat to eight,” Fletcher said.

“Look at Australia where (Shane) Warne had that 100 partnership with (Michael) Clarke (in the first innings). Those runs put the pressure back on to us.

“We think Ashley (Giles) can do that better - that’s the reason.”

However, Fletcher revealed there had been much debate about playing another spinner, and pointed out how hard Warne had had to work to claim 4-49 in England’s second innings and effectively set the stage for Australia to snatch victory.

“We were close to it,” Fletcher said. “We wanted to play two spinners here; we had a huge discussion about playing two spinners.

“Having played in that (practice) game against South Australia, the skiddy bowlers were more effective - seamers took most of the wickets.

Seamer James Anderson was expected to prosper in the conditions © Getty Images

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“Warne is a very good wrist-spinner. He took 86 overs to get five wickets - that summed it up. It was not easy for the spinners if they played on the main square.”

Fletcher felt the loss of Andrew Strauss and Ian Bell in quick succession on Tuesday morning had undermined England’s efforts to claim a draw - or even a highly unlikely win.

He added: “We felt competitive right the way through the game - it was just this morning.

“Those two wickets were really unfortunate. Those first two were unnecessary. We would have definitely saved the game.

“It might have been difficult to set a target but we didn’t rule that out of the equation.”

Fletcher called for bigger contributions from the top order if England are to put up a challenge in the rest of the series.

“The key to it is that we can’t just keep relying on Collingwood and Pietersen getting the runs,” he said.

“Crucially, they have scored the bulk of the runs. The other batters have got to put their hands up and get big hundreds. They have set a base for us in the past.”