I must admit it does sound like there’s a bit of stereotyping going on here. I’ve not done any research into the team’s educational background but I don’t get the feeling that the private schools are over-represented these days. I thought it was only certain Australians who still had this notion that the England team are a bunch of arrogant toffs who needed taking down a peg or two. Even someone like Mike Atherton, who was educated privately at Manchester Grammar School can hardly be said to be “privileged” in the sense that you seem to imply.
Ironically the English cricket team did better in the days when it WAS all amateur toffs. ( come back Douglas Jardine, where are you ?) I have to agree with Badhat about the chances of a cricketer developing from a state school background. Even when I was at school, many moons ago, cricket coaching was a joke - something that happened with the geography teacher for a couple of weeks between the bad weather early in the summer when everything was cancelled, and the school exams when everything stopped. Since my time things have only got worse. Politics have fostered a culture of non-competitiveness and many state schools have been forced to sell off many of their playing fields.
As to the current method of selection for the Ashes tour, David Graveney went on record recently as saying it was in the hands of Fletcher and Flintoff with “advice” from a management group of senior players. The only selector who is not a player is Fletcher himself. Whatever we may say about Fletcher and his decisions he is a professional man without any hint of school tie privilege. If the old school tie network was working Fletcher would never have got the job in the first place - he's Zimbabwean
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