Chris Silverwood power with England is ‘nonsense’, claims Mark Butcher

After another heavy defeat to Australia to concede the Ashes, Chris Silverwood is under pressure to keep his job beyond the series

Mark Butcher insists head coach Chris Silverwood’s power in the England set-up is “nonsense” after going 3-0 down to Australia to concede the Ashes.

Silverwood is under pressure to keep his job beyond the series, having operated as both head coach and chief selector.

And Butcher believes the balance is not right for England to thrive at Test level after another humiliating series defeat.

“He has been given an extraordinary amount of power as he’s also the chief selector, which is utter nonsense,” Butcher told Sky Sports News.

“It’s completely unsustainable. Whether or not the messaging from him is now starting to fall upon deaf ears in the dressing room is something only they know in there.

“It wouldn’t surprise me at all if there’s a change at the top.”

Silverwood has come under fire after claiming there were “positives” to take from the third Test loss inside three days at the MCG.

And two and a half years on from replacing Trevor Bayliss, Silverwood concedes English cricket must ask itself some hard questions.

“I think at the end of this tour there will certainly be reflections on a lot of things, on producing players who can come through and compete at this level and win back the Ashes for us,” he said.

“That will mean working hard with the group of players we have here but also looking at other things as well. I don’t think right now is the time to go into that but certainly, there will be questions asked later on.

“The feeling I get back home is that people have a passion for Test cricket. Obviously white-ball cricket now plays a huge part with the Blast, the Hundred and all the white-ball cricket that is going on, but I do sense there is a real drive for Test cricket.

“I think the love is still there and we’ve got to keep trying to produce those players. There’s certainly things we will look at at the end of this tour but I just don’t think those sorts of conversations are for right now. We’ve got two Test matches coming up and then I think the debrief will happen.”