Britwatch: What now?

In 2008 Britain were relegated from the World Group of the Davis Cup after being beating by Argentina and Austria.

That meant that this season they played in Europe/Africa Zone Group One, but after being beating 4-1 by Ukraine they were forced into a relegation play-off against Poland in Liverpool.

Andy Murray, who missed the Ukraine game, won both his singles matches but lost the doubles when paired with Ross Hutchins against Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski - a pairing ranked 11th the world.

That meant that Dan Evans needed to win one of his two singles matches on his Davis Cup debut, but he lost both of them in straight sets.

Evans is Britain's fifth highest ranked player at 303 in the world. He is still only 19 and had a promising junior career which included a run to the quarter-finals of the Australian Open boys' singles in 2008. He has not been without controversy though. At Wimbledon in 2008 he was photographed in the early hours of the morning on the day he was meant to play a boys' doubles match and was suspended by the LTA for four months. This meant he was stripped of his funding and also denied access to LTA practice centres and coaching staff during that period.

British number two James Ward (world ranking 189) is still awaiting his first chance of Davis Cup action, but he had to pull out of the Poland tie due to glandular fever. However, John Lloyd (pictured) had said that Evans would play ahead of Ward even before that news. Josh Goodall (WR: 235) was also ruled out of the Poland game with illness but has not taken his previous Davis Cup chances in any event. British number four Alex Bogdonovic (WR: 247) has also had injury problems but is no longer being considered for selection after losing both his rubbers against Austria in 2008.

More than a few - the last time someone other than Andy Murray, Tim Henman or Greg Rusedski won a live rubber for Britain in a Davis Cup tie was back in April 1997 when Andrew Richardson defeated Zimbabwe's Byron Black in five sets (Britain still lost the tie 4-1). Since then, as well as those already mentioned, Chris Eaton, Jamie Baker, Arvind Parmar, Alan Mackin, Martin Lee and Jamie Delgado have all tried and failed to break that duck.

It is no better at doubles level either, as again Britain have not won a match without one of the 'big three' playing. Colin Fleming, Ross Hutchins, Jamie Murray, Delgado, Miles McLagan, Parmar and Neil Broad have all failed at doubles when not partnered with one of the top guys.

That's certainly a factor but then the two Polish players that beat Evans - Jerzy Janowicz and Michal Przysiezny - were ranked 261 and 678 respectively, and there is really no excuse for losing to both of them in straight sets.

That is the million dollar question, or to put it more accurately, the multi-million dollar question. It is not through lack of funding that is for sure, but it is surely no coincidence that Murray was sent by his parents to train in Barcelona at an early age and is now the one who is streets ahead of the pack.

Maybe the British players are too spoiled by the LTA? Natural talent is not enough at the top level of the game. A consistent hunger and desire to improve is imperative to move up the rankings and any let up can lead to a quick descent. Britain's youngsters should not be fed with a silver spoon, they need to earn and justify their funding.

If he keeps his position he can count himself very lucky as it is now two years since Britain have won a Davis Cup tie. He was talking to Evans repeatedly between changeovers during his two matches so he has to take a share of the blame for those defeats - especially as Evans's shot selection and tactics in both matches were among the weakest aspects of his game.

Britain seem to have a ready-made replacement for Lloyd in Rusedski, who has shown a keen analytical eye for the game in his media work since retiring from the game. He loves the Davis Cup and played 13 seasons of the competition for Britain (which is still a record). The current crop of players also grew up watching him play and will respect for him that, while Lloyd was last a factor in the game before the likes of Murray and Evans were even born.

Britain have now been relegated to Europe/Africa Group Two, where Bosnia, Estonia, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Turkey, Monaco, Norway, Portugal and Slovenia all reside. Whether Murray can be persuaded to compete against these teams is another thing. He has already hinted that he may take a step back for now, or he might follow Roger Federer's lead and only play the second part of the Davis Cup season, like the world number one has done for Switzerland in the last few years.

In any event, the drop down could do Britain good as they might now be at a level where they can compete even without Murray.

However, it also now means that Britain can only return to the World Group in 2012 at the earliest, and to that they will have to remain unbeaten for the next two years, an unlikely prospect given last weekend's exploits.