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Andy Flower, the assistant coach who was left to pick up the pieces when Kevin Pietersen’s resignation as England captain brought about the downfall of Peter Moores as head coach, yesterday denied that team disunity was behind their abysmal collapse to 51 all out in the first Test match.

“I’ve heard a bit of talk about disunity and whatever and I can honestly say that the 25 people or whatever we’ve got in our group work very well together,” Flower said, responding to allegations that the Pietersen-Moores upheaval, followed by the £1.05 million Indian Premier League (IPL) contracts handed to Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff, had disrupted the side.

“If you have 25 people together in an office you will have the odd ruction and the same goes for a sports team it’s simply not true. What happened with the captain and the coach was not ideal preparation for any tour but we have to deal with that. I don’t think it had anything to do with yesterday’s performance. It wasn’t about the IPL, either. It was about other things.

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“We had a brief chat in the changing-room afterwards, not so much hard words. There is a time in which we need to reflect on what’s happened. Players have been talking amongst themselves today and there is a lot of hurt and a lot of learning which go together.”

Flower, as quietly impressive as a coach as he was when he was averaging 51 with the bat in 63 Tests for Zimbabwe, also had to deal with a charge that England had fallen to a disadvantage in the absence of a head coach. “I don’t think the tour is rudderless,” Flower said. “In fact, I know it isn’t. Andrew Strauss and I work together and whereas he is captain, I’m running the management team and taking as much of the burden off his shoulders as possible.

“The bottom line is that the players have to take responsibility for not handling the pressure situation well and not getting through it. As a coach you’re talking about cricket all the time, the psychology of cricket, the techniques used, both physical and mental. You try to have an influence.”

Flower did concede that all the issues added together might have had an effect, but said: “In the end sportsmen have to deal with what they’re given. We are given the challenge of a four-Test tour in the West Indies and we’ve failed the first test. There are three Tests left and we can do something about it. We’re going to have to play great cricket against these guys to win the series.”