ADELAIDE, Dec 6: Duncan Fletcher was in a defiant mood on Wednesday after England's disastrous defeat in the second Test at Adelaide, insisting that the touring side’s batsmen were to blame for the collapse of their Ashes prospects, and not the defensive team selection that had allowed Australia to dictate terms in the closing stages of the game.

"We lost that match in that hour, hour-and-a-half, yesterday morning," Fletcher told reporters at the team hotel in Adelaide, prior to their departure for Perth. "We put ourselves under a little pressure. The first two wickets were unnecessary, and when Pietersen got out, a large part of our batting had gone. If we had batted well there and continued in a real positive vein, who knows what could have happened."

Positivity has not been a watchword of England's team make-up in this series, however, and Fletcher's position as coach is under greater scrutiny than ever before. Several former captains have pointed the finger at the team's selection, including his old ally Nasser Hussain. "He will come under the immense pressure in the next week or so," Hussain told The Evening Standard. "His selections have let him down and let England down in [Ashley] Giles and [Geraint] Jones."

Part of Fletcher's success as a coach in his seven-year tenure has been his ability to absorb the flak on the occasions when things have gone wrong, but on this occasion, he chose to share the buck with his beleaguered captain, Andrew Flintoff, who - to judge from his dodgy ankle, dreadful dismissal and thousand-yard post-match stare - has got more than enough issues to worry about.

"I'm not the sole selector on tour," Fletcher reiterated on at least four occasions. "I'm not the one who says 'right, this is what we'll go in with'. Out here it's like it's been for the last four or five years, which have been pretty successful. The captain and coach finalise the side for each Test match, and do I stand by the selections? Of course we stand by those selections. I've got to stand by those selections as part of the selection committee.

"Andrew (Flintoff) and I have the final say," he confirmed, adding that the mysterious selection committee didn't include David Graveney or any of the home selectors, but instead consisted of a panel of senior players — Andrew Strauss, Paul Collingwood and Jones - who are consulted prior to each Test. It is said that Shane Warne was spot on in his pre-series assessment, when he claimed that Fletcher has his "favourites".

And those favourites certainly do not include Monty Panesar, whose continued omission from the Test team has created waves of indignation from England's disgruntled fans. "I'm sure there’s a lot of anger," Fletcher said, "but I could have taken the easy option with the other players on the selection committee.—Agencies