Flower gets backing

PERTH. — Alastair Cook has insisted Andy Flower is the right man to continue as England cricket team coach after his side surrendered the Ashes at the earliest possibly opportunity following the 150-run defeat here yesterday. Despite a gutsy and classy hundred from Ben Stokes in only his second Test, England were bowled out for 353 a little over half an hour after lunch on the final day, leaving Cook to contemplate a 3-0 deficit with two Tests of this one-sided series still to play.

That leaves open the possibility that England could go down to a second Ashes whitewash in seven years, having not previously lost 5-0 to Australia since 1920-21. But, at the pair’s lowest ebb as captain and coach, Cook stood resolutely by coach Flower.

Flower is the second Zimbabwean coach to take charge of the English cricket team, following in the footsteps of Duncan Fletcher, and both men have led England to Ashes success.

But Flower’s position has been thrown under the spotlight after his team’s poor showing their Ashes defence Down Under.

“Yeah, I do want him (Flower) to carry on,’ said Cook. ‘He’s an outstanding coach, let’s make no mistake about that.

“He’s an outstanding person, and a great person to have around, especially for me as a captain.

“Whether he will carry on and wants to carry on, you’ll have to ask him. It’s not down to him that we’ve lost, it’s that we haven’t had enough players in form.”

Flower would not be drawn into commenting on his future, telling Sky Sports: “We’ve got two Test matches left in the series and I am absolutely hungry to do well in those games. That is as far as I’m looking at the minute.”

Asked whether this was an England side in decline, Cook replied: “The last three results suggest that. You deal in facts, and we lost three games. But you only have to look at the Australian side — there are a few guys the back end of 30 who are delivering success. “I wouldn’t necessarily say (we’re in decline). But when we needed people to be in form and play well, we haven’t done that, and that’s why we’ve lost.” — Mailonline.