Former England bowler Andrew Flintoff has said that he is "fed up" of the criticism that captain Alastair Cook is receiving.
The 30-year-old has come under fire following a dramatic slump in form since taking up the captaincy, which has seen him fail to score a century in his last 61 international innings.
Flintoff, who was captain of England when Cook made his Test debut in 2006, says that his former teammate is just going through a blip.
"I get fed up of people having a go at Alastair Cook," he told Sky Sports News. "I got a lot of things wrong as England captain, but the one thing I got right was picking Cook. He's one of England's finest ever players.
"He's scored more runs than anyone else, he's scored more hundreds than anyone else. He's led the team well in the past and it's inevitable, when you have a career spanning over 100 Test matches, there are going to be blips along the way.
"But Alastair, knowing the lad he his, the strength of character and the quality he is as a player, he'll get through this."
Cook was dismissed for 13 in England's second innings of their first Test against West Indies on Wednesday.
Steven Toplis
