Stoneman confident of English fightback

MARK Stoneman is determined to help England prove they are more than Ashes alsorans in this summer’s two remaining Tests.

Joe Root’s men have lost the urn at the first opportunity, 3-0 down before Christmas, but Stoneman is confident they are capable of hitting back in Melbourne and Sydney.

“It’s pretty devastating really,” the straight-talking opener said, as he reflected on the innings defeat in Perth, which handed Australia the Ashes.

“We came from the first two games with the knowledge of where we wanted to put things right and how we were going to do things better . . . it’s pretty hard to take.”

Stoneman said going to Melbourne 3-0 down was not ideal, but “what better way to bounce back than to perform well in the Boxing Day Test”.

Stoneman has great respect for the home attack, having been given a torrid time at the WACA by Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc especially.

Asked if Australia’s three pace bowlers and off-spinner Nathan Lyon were as tough a combination as he has faced, he said: “Yes ... three quicks and a top-quality operating spinner, they’re definitely a complete unit.”

England’s cause has not been helped by the desperately lean form of Stoneman’s opening partner Alastair Cook.

But Stoneman is convinced England’s all-time record runscorer, 33 on Christmas Day, retains the necessary appetite to set the record straight again.

“The way he goes about his preparations, the work in the nets . . . you can still see it deep within him,” he said.