7 May 2015

England cricket coach under pressure

12:37 pm on 7 May 2015

The England cricket captain Alastair Cook denies there is any need for a review of the team's failure to win the test series against West Indies, but coach Peter Moores may be feeling uneasy after the performances in the Caribbean.

Peter Moores on the balcony at Lords, 2014.

Peter Moores on the balcony at Lords, 2014. Photo: PHOTOSPORT

Incoming board chairman Colin Graves promised in March there would be serious questions asked should England not beat a team he termed "mediocre".

While Cook showed a promising return to form with the bat, striking a century in the third test loss in Barbados, Moores may feel the heat after the series ended in a draw.

In his second stint as coach, Moores has had his share of inquisitions and was already under scrutiny after England's group-stage exit from the World Cup.

That scrutiny intensified with the departure of managing director Paul Downton, who appointed him last year.

Cook said Moores had brought "a lot of good stuff" but admitted decisions about his own future and that of the coach were out of their hands.

"I don't think it's inquiry time when you look at how we played over the 13 days, but I think we can all sit in that dressing room and know we've let an opportunity go," Cook said.

Pundits and former players were less sanguine.

"How much Moores?" asked British tabloid, The Sun, in a headline on its website.

"Sometimes you have to accept it's not working," former England captain Michael Vaughan tweeted.

If hauled before Graves, Moores will have to defend his team on a number of fronts. Some issues he can claim were beyond his control.

England wilted under pressure, said Cook, perhaps an understandable reaction from a young and still-developing team.

While the England board are quiet on whether there is space for a coach under the new more powerful 'director of cricket' role to be filled, questions about Moores' future ahead of home test series against New Zealand and Australia will continue.

Highly-rated former Australia test bowler Jason Gillespie, coach of county side Yorkshire, has been touted as a potential successor.