England batter Dawid Malan admitted that the tourists are hurt with their performance so far in the ongoing Ashes 2021-22 after they suffered back-to-back defeats against Australia.
Malan further insisted that England hasn’t given up on hopes of winning an Ashes in Australia, but admitted that the tourists must put up a much-improved performance in the third Ashes Test in Melbourne to get back
Speaking to reporters at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), Malan said: “The boys are hurting after our performances in the last two games. We realize we haven't been good enough across all facets of the game. The boys want to win; we want to win the series too. I know it's a long way for us to come but we have to do well and play our best cricket in this test match to get ourselves back into the series.”
The 34-year-old further said that England needs to bat better in the Boxing Day Test against Australia.
He added, “Myself and (Joe Root) have been in the position to score hundreds in two innings and haven't been able to kick on which has probably cost us about a hundred runs as a team at least, and that gets us back in the game. Scoring 80's good, scoring 180's brilliant, so that's the goal.”
With England openers Rory Burns and Haseeb Hameed struggling for runs, Zak Crawley may get the chance to play in the third Ashes Test at MCG.
Malan said, “Zak's a very talented player. He's a tall bloke who plays the short ball really well so there's every chance that he'll be really good here.”
He is also ready to bat up the order if asked. He added, “I'll bat wherever to play for England. I don't see myself as an opener but if they'd like me to, I'm happy to do what's necessary.”
Malan signed off by saying, “Everyone's up for a challenge, everyone's really keen to face up to the Australians. We do it in white-ball cricket, we try and take them on, so hopefully, we can get that mindset and not just go into our shells and try and survive.”
(With Reuters Inputs)
