Acknowledgements

Firstly thank you to Scyld Berry, my colleague at the Sunday Telegraph, whose idea this book was, and to whom I first wrote in 1996 when wanting to work in the national press. He has been a help and inspiration ever since. But the man who gave me my first break was Peter Mitchell, of the Sunday Telegraph. He is now sports editor there, and I cannot thank him enough for his backing, advice and friendship. Thank you also to Ben Clissitt, Adam Sills and Jim Bruce-Ball and everyone else at the Telegraph for their kindness and patience in allowing me to pursue this project.

Thanks too to David Luxton, of DLA, for his determination that this book should see the light of day. But I still cannot forgive him for being part of the Christ College, Brecon side that once inflicted upon me the most humiliating defeat of my cricketing career. ‘That was not a defeat; it was a surrender,’ my Monmouth School cricket master said.

Thanks also to Giles Elliott at Transworld for embracing the idea. His enthusiasm from the off was extraordinary, his editing always thorough and sensible, and his knowledge outstanding. We’ll go on that bike ride one day, I promise. Thanks also to Daniel Balado-Lopez for his wonderful editing.

I am indebted to many people whom I interviewed or informally spoke to for the purposes of this book: David Morgan, Hugh Morris, Ashley Giles, Geraint Jones, Marcus Trescothick, Matthew Maynard, Dean Conway, Bill and Jean Flower, Grant Flower, Alistair Campbell, Lord MacLaurin of Knebworth, Tim Lamb, Ken Schofield, Brian Bolus, Peter Moores, Nasser Hussain, Michael Vaughan, Mark Garaway, James Boiling, Mark Wallace, Matthew Streeton, Andrew Walpole and Paul Grayson. There are also a number who wish to remain anonymous. They know who they are. Many thanks.

And thank you to a number of other journalists and commentators who have helped and advised: Richard Gibson, Simon Wilde (who passed on James Lawton’s excellent advice: ‘Get up at six a.m. every morning and do two hours’ work before the day starts!’), Ian Ward, Paul Newman, Mike Atherton and David Lloyd. Thanks also to my parents who perused the text with their usual diligence and sharp eyes. Indeed they did, except that there is a tragic twist to this tale. My mum read the last few chapters while in hospital. She returned home, delighted that I had taken her advice and made all the suggested changes to the submitted manuscript. But a couple of weeks later, on 22 November 2011, she passed away. I hope this book would have made her proud.

A word for Duncan Fletcher and Andy Flower too, the two central characters in this story. I have known both of them for many years and regard them as close friends. Neither was interviewed directly for this book but both gladly endorsed the writing of it. Flower has told me that he does not want to write an autobiography (or authorize a full biography) after an earlier attempt was halted because of his uneasiness with the project, and his coauthor, Keith Meadows, has now sadly passed away. The current England team like to be discreet (thus Flower’s mild rebuke of Graeme Swann in the autumn of 2011 when, in his autobiography, he made some criticism of team-mate Kevin Pietersen) and Flower was wary of talking about his team and their methods, but we do, of course, talk. Fletcher is always willing to talk. To me at least!

Finally, thanks and apologies to my wife, Jane, and children Bethan and Rhys for their love, support and tolerance. I’ll get up later from now on …