MacLaurin backs Hussain and Fletcher

The chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board, Lord MacLaurin, has added his voice in support of the two men in charge of the Ashes tourists.

MacLaurin, who retires from his post next year, believes Nasser Hussain and Duncan Fletcher represent England's best chance of fighting back against Australia after two crushing Test defeats.

"I think in Nasser and Duncan Fletcher we have a very good management team," MacLaurin insisted. "It is just ridiculous (to suggest otherwise)."

MacLaurin backed the original selection policy for the tour, adding that the warm-up schedule once the squad arrived in Australia may have had more to do with England's problems.

"We certainly have our best players out there. But I think it is fair enough to say we have played some pretty strange matches to start with, two days here and three days there," he told Sky Sports News. "If we had had two or three four-day matches before we started the Test matches it would have been better."

MacLaurin insisted that should Hussain decided to stand down as England's captain - perhaps after this winter's World Cup - it would be detrimental to England's prospects.

"I think that would be very sad," he said, calling on followers of English cricket to get behind their team.

"Are we supporting it [English cricket]?" he asked. "Do we want to see it through this difficult period? Or are we going to hound out the best people?"