Under-fire England coach Duncan Fletcher has been given the full backing of his England and Wales Cricket Board boss following the loss of the Ashes.

Critics have been lining up to call for Fletcher to leave his post, which he has held since 1999, after England's defeats in the opening three Tests against Australia.

Fletcher has been criticised for cutting England's preparation time to a minimum and for a series of selection mistakes, which he insists were taken in consultation with captain Andrew Flintoff.

But he still has a strong ally in David Morgan, the ECB's chairman, who believes Fletcher has become an unfair scapegoat for England's failings.

''I have seen the extent of the criticism in the week I have been here and I think it is totally unfair,'' said Morgan.

''Clearly we are not doing as well as we would have hoped, but I think he is the man to analyse the problem and produce a solution. I see him as the man to take us through the rest of this series and the World Cup.

''Duncan is tough, resilient and I believe he wants to turn the thing around.''

Despite Morgan's enthusiastic support, a thorough review of England's performances this winter is due when there is bound to be an inquiry into, among other things, why opener Marcus Trescothick was selected for the tour only to go home just a few weeks later with a recurrence of his stress-related problems.

The review will be done by the ECB's international team management group chaired by Dennis Amiss and including John Carr, the director of the ECB's cricket operations, Fletcher and chairman of selectors David Graveney.

Fletcher has also found an ally in Aussie captain Ricky Ponting, who has come to the defence of the embattled coach and skipper Andrew Flintoff, claiming the harassment they are suffering after losing the Ashes is ''harsh''.

Fletcher and Flintoff were grilled by the media the day after losing the urn.

Journalists questioned all elements of the team's organisation - from the validity of their selection process to whether they should step down from their current roles.

But Ponting, speaking after arriving back in Sydney to spend three days with his family before rejoining the Australian team in Melbourne for the fourth Test, sympathised with the English pair.

''There are 11 guys in the team, or the 13 guys in the squad, and it is very harsh just to blame the coach and captain,'' he said.

''But I know, especially after last year, what it is like as a leader, as a captain of a side, that when you lose a lot of the flak will come back on you.

''They haven't played anywhere near as well as they would have liked but in saying that I think we haven't given them the opportunity to play as well as they would have liked.''

But Ponting stopped short of showing the opposition too much compassion.