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Ashes whitewash was 'fascinating': Flower

Former head coach lifts lid on helming England to memorable Ashes disaster against Mitchell Johnson and co in 2013-14

Former England head coach Andy Flower says found it "fascinating" to be part of England's 5-0 Ashes whitewash in the 2013-14 summer, and still harbours ambitions to be an international coach again.

Fresh from a 3-0 victory at home in 2013, Flower's England arrived in Australia full of confidence and seeking a second successive away series win. Instead, they ran into a moustachioed Mitchell Johnson bowling 150kph thunderbolts and imploded in spectacular fashion.

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Jonathan Trott left the tour with a stress-related illness, Stuart Broad was hopsitalised with a broken foot, captain Alastair Cook couldn't buy a run, Graeme Swann quit midway through the tour and Kevin Pietersen was exiled after it, never to return.

"There were hard times during that tour of Australia and some testing times for me and a few others afterwards," Flower told the Daily Mail.

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"So I don't have good memories of it but having said that it was still fascinating to be part of.

"It was interesting to try to find a way of halting the slide even though we weren't able to do it. It was fascinating to watch how people were dealing with what we went through and how I dealt with it myself.

"Coming out the other side and evaluating why things happened. Hopefully I'm stronger and wiser for it."

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As Australia rode the momentum from that landmark series, defeating South Africa away and reclaiming the World No.1 Test ranking, Flower was sacked and England struggled to arrest the decline.

"It fell apart very quickly and much quicker than I hoped," he said.

"Regardless of whether I moved on I would like to have seen a healthier transition where some senior players stayed and there was a drip-feed of younger ones rather than a complete makeover.

"If we'd won that Ashes I would have wanted to carry on, no question.

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"There was talk of me going even if we'd won but I would have wanted to stay because I was really enjoying the job and it's one of the best you can have. Why wouldn't you carry on when you're winning?"

England turned back to Peter Moores, who's second stint in charge ended with his sacking on the eve of last year's Ashes series, with Australian Trevor Bayliss appointed.

Image Id: ~/media/A0050D9D3C37401DBD7B0C6E0B9BF0E3 Image Caption: Andy Flower midway through the 2013-14 Ashes // Getty

Flower said Moores was responsible for laying the foundations that helped England to reclaiming the Ashes on home soil last winter.

"Moores … had some tough situations to deal with and I think Trevor Bayliss and Paul Farbrace have reaped some rewards for the work he did during that transitional period for English cricket," Flower said.

"Trevor is a very experienced coach and he's bringing a lot of knowledge to English cricket.

"He may give the impression he's a simple guy from the bush in New South Wales but he has a cricketing wisdom about him and about people and teams. He's making that count for English cricket."

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