LONDON, April 20: Former England coach Duncan Fletcher claimed on Sunday that three of the heroes from the Ashes winning series of 2005 would find it hard to get back into the England side.

The Zimbabwe-born coach — whose eight year tenure as England coach came to an end in April 2007 after a disastrous World Cup campaign — told The Sunday Telegraph that he believed pacemen Steve Harmison, 29, and Matthew Hoggard, 31, had an uphill task to get back into the Test side after being dropped during the recent series in New Zealand.

He added that all rounder Andrew Flintoff – who badly let down Fletcher during the World Cup and the previous Ashes series in Australia when he turned up drunk for a practice session — would also have a few problems were the 30-year-old not be able to regain full fitness to bowl.

All three of the players had played an integral role in securing England’s first Ashes series triumph in 18 years in what was an epic series in England in 2005 — just over a year later England led by Flintoff were to surrender them 5-0 in Australia.

“We’ve seen it over and over again (with Harmison),” said Fletcher, who is now living in South African and caring for his sick wife.

“He could and should be the number one bowler in the world but he can’t seem to be able to put it all together.

“I think he’ll find it hard to get back in. He’ll need some consistent performances to do so,” added Fletcher.

“Hoggard’s speed has been dropping for a while. I heard someone saying he’d lost his nip.

“I hope Flintoff foot allows him to bowl properly because otherwise his batting will need to improve,” Fletcher remarked.

—AFP