Dean Jones warns Cook to 'plug' hole in 'fast-sinking' England or risk losing Ashes

Former Australian cricketer Dean Jones has warned England captain Alastair Cook to plug his 'fast-sinking boat' and quickly find some 'mates' to stop the leak, or risk losing the Ashes urn to Australia.

According to The Age, Jones believes that the fact that England is bleeding and spiralling out of control on and off the ground is their own fault and urged Cook to quickly regain control and show hard and tough leadership or see and end to their Ashes campaign next week itself.

Stating that the whole Ashes campaign has come down to how Cook is managing and leading his men before the second Test, Jones said that although Cook cannot change the past, he has the power to change the future by standing strong, being firm and showing 'who is the boss', adding that captains are judged when things are tough and tense.

Although Jones pointed out the fact that Cook has some great people around him such as Andy Flower and Graham Gooch, he advised the skipper to read his team the riot act and order them to change their attitude, adding that in particular, Cook needs to 'point the bone' at Kevin Pietersen, Matt Prior, Graeme Swann and James Anderson.

Jones further advised Cook to organise sessions that would get everyone out of their comfort zones like morning classes, daily half-hour video sessions of the Gabba match, killing off any negative locker-room talk, banning music while on planes and buses and organising net bowlers to go after his batsmen with new balls at practice.