England skipper Joe Root while admitting Australia outplayed them in all the three Tests so far in Ashes 2021-22, said that his side needs to front up and stay focused.

England’s horrendous campaign in Australia continued as the hosts outshined them by innings and 14 runs to go 3-0 up in the series and retain the Ashes, with two matches to go. 

After being thumped by 9 wickets and 275 runs in Gabba and Adelaide respectively, many expected England to stage a comeback especially after the fight shown by them in the second innings of the pink-ball Test. 

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But this wasn’t the case as their batting let them down yet again. Asked to bat first at the MCG, England were bundled out for just 185 runs in their first innings. They then came back into the game after the bowlers dismissed the hosts for 267 runs. 

With a trail of just 82 runs, it was expected that England would put a better batting performance and post a fighting target on the board. But debutant Scott Boland rattled their batting line-up and took 6/7 to blow them away for 68 runs, capping a massive Australian win by an innings and 14 runs.

Speaking after a big innings and 14 runs loss, English skipper Joe Root said that if they would’ve grabbed the opportunities they would’ve been very much in the game. He lauded Australia’s bowling during the last session on Day 2 at MCG. 

"We have to make sure when we get our opportunities to get ahead we take them. If we had we would have been very much in the game and we would have been looking at a very different game. But last night was an outstanding spell of bowling from their attack and you just have to find a way to get through it. Sometimes it has to just be an hour's hard grind,”  Joe Root said. 

Root said that coming into Day 3, they were confident of getting themselves a score but they displayed a disappointing batting performance. He admitted that his side has to front up and make sure that they stay focused and improve all their areas to come back stronger. 

“We knew going into today we were more than capable of getting ourselves a score and it's really disappointing that we didn't manage to do that. We have to front up, make sure we stay focused, looking to improve all areas of our game individually and collectively, and we have to have a really strong inner belief to be able to come back," he said. 

Root pointed out that his side is very disappointed to be 0-3 down in the five-match Test series but they’ll try to finish the tour with wins in the last two matches. He admitted that Australia outplayed them in all three games. 

He lauded his bowlers for bringing them back in the game and said that they need to keep looking to get better. 

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“We need to put some pride back. We're really disappointed to be 3-0 down with two Test matches to go. We have to try and make sure we come away from this tour with a couple of wins. They have definitely outplayed us in the three games, we have not been good enough. 

“I also think that the way we bowled yesterday was excellent as well. I'm really disappointed for the bowlers because they kept us in the game, we just have to keep looking to get better,” he concluded. 

The fourth Test of Ashes 2021-22 will take place on 5th January at SCG. While the fifth and final Test match, a day-night affair, will take place on 14th January at Hobart. 

(AFP Inputs)