Flower fullest in praise of Cook

England can move on to this summer's sternest tests against world-beating India with reputation enhanced after victories over Sri Lanka in two of three formats.

Most notable among the 'winners', having followed a 1-0 Test success with a 3-2 one-day international verdict, is clearly new 50-over captain Alastair Cook.
Coach Andy Flower ditched his natural understatement to voice effusive praise for Cook, who began his tenure under intense scrutiny from many high-profile and vociferous doubters of his ability to adapt his world-class Test match batting to the demands of ODI cricket.
Yet by the time England had closed out the series at Old Trafford with a 16-run victory in yesterday's decider, Cook could point to 298 runs at an average of 74.50 and a strike rate of 96.75.
Those figures leave his erstwhile critics with no wriggle room, and just as importantly he demonstrated in a tight match in Manchester that he is not a one-paced captain either.
It was not by accident that his team withstood a Sri Lanka fightback to sneak home.
Flower was impressed, and he cannot have been alone.
"It was a very good test," he said of the NatWest Series, against opponents who had trounced England by 10 wickets in Colombo in this year's World Cup quarter-final.
"They are a very good one-day side, World Cup finalists recently, and three of the five tracks weren't ideal English conditions - so I think we've done very well to win."
Cook proved once and for all he must never be underestimated.
As before last winter's Ashes, in which he went on to break a string of batting records in England's 3-1 series victory, pundits appeared to be queuing up to question the opener's credentials.
"He had some tricky decisions to make throughout the series, and he was under pressure from a number of quarters," added the coach.
"I thought he handled that pressure really well, and made some really good decisions out there in this last match.
"He had to be very flexible, and he was."
Flower has seen Cook rise to the challenge many times now - including when he deputised for Andrew Strauss in Bangladesh last year.
"We saw him handle pressure well there too, which isn't an easy tour.
"He grew there as a leader, and without doubt this series will have helped him grow too.
"[England batting coach] Graham Gooch has worked very closely with him on his batting for a long time - because obviously one-day cricket is very different to Test cricket.
"I think he's adapted well.
"It might not look as pretty as a (Mahela) Jayawardene, but it's been even more effective during this series.
"He should feel very proud of his contribution with the bat, and how he's handled some of the pressure he's been under."
Flower takes issue with any suggestion that promoting Cook to succeed Strauss was a risky proposition.
"We don't think we're gambling. We make decisions based on what we believe is best for English cricket."
The next step for Cook, of course, is to return to Test cricket - in which the four-match npower series against the world's number one team begins at Lord's on July 21.
He is one of several among the ODI winners who need to make the same occupational transition.
Some will do so in good heart, like the world's new number one 50-over bowler Graeme Swann; others, such as Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell, had frustrating NatWest Series.
It is Stuart Broad, though, who has most to prove.
Dropped for the final match to accommodate Samit Patel's spin in favourable conditions, England's Twenty20 captain got the chop rather than newcomer Jade Dernbach - having taken only two wickets in the four previous fixtures.
He began the series nursing a minor heel injury. But neither Cook nor Flower pretended that a loss of wicket-taking form had not also entered the equation. "He was left out of the side because we wanted to bring a spinner in, and we thought Dernbach would be more effective in these conditions," said the coach, who nonetheless made it clear Broad remains central to England's plans against India.
"A nice byproduct of him missing this game is that he will have a four-day break from bowling between the fourth ODI and the four-day game he will play for Nottinghamshire, starting on Monday.
"After that, he can have another four-day break to rest those niggles and then get into training for the Test match at Lord's.
"Broad has been a superb performer for us, a great competitor - and I foresee him doing great things for us in the future, both in this upcoming Test series and the one-day series."
Flower also predicts England "futures" for Dernbach and also Chris Woakes - who, like fellow seamer Steven Finn, was in the ODI squad but did not play against Sri Lanka.
Fast bowler Chris Tremlett was not in the squad, but will therefore be "fresh" to take on India and is expected to be a "very important man".
On Flower's wish-list for everything to fall into place perfectly for Lord's will be runs for Test captain Strauss in his one-off outing for Somerset against India in Taunton and the restoration of Bell and Pietersen's well-being.
The latter's will be overdue - last night on Twitter, Pietersen prescribed some "European sunshine" with his family to try to recharge his batteries - while Bell will doubtless be delighted to get back to the 'pinnacle' format which appears to suit him by far the best.