Dear Duncan,

I am indebted to David Graveney, your chairman of selectors, for suggesting that I write you a letter of apology. He says that such things never happen in the media; it is important for us all here at The Times to show how wrong he is.

I have, indeed, said some harsh things about you and about the England team you coached during the trip to Australia. I have, for example, said that England’s record in one-day cricket under your stewardship was woeful and was likely only to get worse.

You have proved me wrong in a delightfully unexpected way. England have won four one-day matches on the trot, beating Australia, the world champions, three times in succession. As a result, England won the Commonwealth Bank Series, one of the most ancient and prestigious competitions in world sport. Your team have a trophy and an infinitely bigger and more imposing one than the Ashes urn.

A nation rejoices and, as Mr Graveney implies, I am forced to change my views on what went before. All of us who criticised you and your team must now ask ourselves: “Does it really matter that England were beaten 5-0 in the Test series? Does it really matter that the Ashes were surrendered? Does it really matter that this was England’s worst showing in a Test series in Australia since 1921?”

I think the implication of Mr Graveney’s epistolary demand is that I — and others who have criticised you and your team — should admit that we were wrong and eat a fair amount of humble pie.

For example, I was of the view that Monty Panesar should play in the first Test. I believed that picking Ashley Giles sent the message to the Australians that England were running scared. I also believed that failing to pick Panesar for the second Test was piling folly on folly.

I also believed that England went into the Test series underprepared, that in bending over backwards to keep the players happy, you failed to mount a significant challenge for the Ashes. But I have to confess that I was wrong on all these counts. I now see that England’s 5-0 defeat was one of those flukes that occasionally happen to brilliant teams who are perfectly prepared. The fact that they happen more often to ill-selected and poorly prepared teams is irrelevant. The fact that the undercooked Stephen Harmison sent the first ball of the series straight to second slip must also be overlooked, even if it did set the tone for the series.

I have also been slow to admit that Giles took three wickets for 262 runs in his two matches. I have been too eager to point out that Giles dropped Ricky Ponting on 35 in the second Test; it was merely a coincidence that Ponting went on to make 142 and England suffered their most traumatic defeat in cricket history. I now see that the fact that Panesar took eight wickets in the third Test only vindicates your decision in holding him back for Perth.

I admit that I felt that England losing the Ashes series 5-0 was a poor result. But now, thanks to Mr Graveney, I realise that I attached too much importance to the competition. The fact that the Ashes lit up the entire country in the glorious summer of 2005 had gone to my head; likewise, the fact that the Ashes 2006-07 was the most eagerly awaited Test series in history.

I should be able to laugh off such a thing. Sure, the 5-0 defeat was disappointing, but it paved the way to victory in the Commonwealth Bank Series, didn’t it? What more could anyone want? And if England go on and win the World Cup that starts next month, won’t that make it all worthwhile? Won’t it be the culmination of a masterplan?

I have suggested, Duncan, that you took England to the most humiliating Test series in Australia for 86 years, that you took a punt on damaged players being fit and lost, that you failed to pick a proven match-winning spinner, preferring a decent trier who can bat a bit, that you picked a wicketkeeper for his batting even though his batting had gone, that you took a team woefully short of preparation and so made a gift of the first Test, from which your side never recovered.

I apologise for having said all these things. I apologise from the bottom of my heart — because you brought us the Commonwealth Bank Series trophy.

England’s tour to Australia was a triumph! Anyone who denies this is a fool! And I, fool that I was, had the temerity, the blindness and the impertinence to criticise your handling of a Test team, merely because they lost the Ashes series 5-0 in such a humiliating fashion. Can I ever apologise enough?

Yours in sport,

Simon