Former Australian cricketer Michael Hussey wants England to take inspiration from the Indian team that travelled Australia last year. India managed to draw a Test match at the Sydney Cricket ground due to a heroic effort by Ravichandran Ashwin and Hanuma Vihari on day 5.
“This is what we love about Test cricket, you never know. Everyone had written India off last year. They were on their last leg, they were injured, but they found their spirit inside and I think England can draw inspiration from that,” Hussey said during a show on Cricbuzz.
England ended Day four of the ongoing Test against at 30 for no loss, needing 358 runs more to win. Both the openers Haseeb Hameed and Zak Crawley played out a tricky period before stumps and will be keen on extending the already best opening partnership of the series for England.
“There are some other great stories in there as well – Zak Crawley and Hameed possibly playing for their careers. So there’s plenty of motivation for the English to show that spirit and fight,” Hussey said.
Batting has remained a big concern for the touring team since the first Test match as they hit the rock bottom during the Boxing Day Test when the batters could make only 68 runs in the second innings.
“I’m not going to write them off yet, but it’s going to be very difficult. There are going to be big challenges along the way. The pitch is certainly not as good as it was last year and the Australian bowlers are probably a bit fresher than they were this time last year. So it’s in Australia’s favour without a doubt, but England I’m sure will not go down without a fight,” Hussey added.
Hussey made it clear that Aussies are clear favourites to win at SCG. Aussie pacers have wrecked the English batters and are likely to grab all the 10 wickets on the final day..
