London: Tim Bresnan returns to the scene of his Test breakthrough this week determined to put in a performance to help persuade England coach Andy Flower to carry on at the end of the series.
Bresnan took six wickets the last time England played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in a win by an innings and 157 runs on the 2010-11 tour that secured retention of the urn they had won in 2009.
This time he may not even make the cut after a below-par bowling display in his comeback Test in Perth, which ended with surrender of the Ashes and questions over the future of senior players, Flower and his staff.
Bresnan said: “We feel we owe Andy a performance. We’ve let the captain [Alastair Cook] and coach down by not performing to our potential. Regardless of what happens in the next few weeks, Andy’s the man to take us forward.
“What he’s achieved with this team is staggering when you consider the record of how England have played cricket over the past 30 years.
Knee-jerk reaction
“That’s the benchmark he’s set. We’ve had this knee-jerk reaction from just losing three Tests — suddenly England are poor again. We’re not a poor side; we just didn’t play as well as we should be playing.
“There’s no lack of drive from Andy. He cares as much as when he first took over. We should gain a lot of confidence from the second innings at Perth, getting 350 on that wicket, but that was too little, too late for me.
“We should have figured out what was going wrong a lot sooner. It’s up to the players to put that right — the XI on the field, not the coach.
“I don’t think it’s the end of an era. I can only talk for Jimmy Anderson and Graeme Swann, who I’m pretty close to. They’re still hungry. Jimmy’s really hungry for wickets and I can’t see him retiring anytime soon.”
