MALAN: WE WON’T TURN ON EACH OTHER
DAWID MALAN, the big success story of England’s doomed tour, is adamant there will be no repeat of the recriminations that brought the last Ashes in Australia to such a bitter end. One of England’s best teams fell apart in the wake of losing the Ashes in Perth four years ago, with Graeme Swann retiring and then, after a 5-0 rout was complete, coach Andy Flower resigned and the Kevin Pietersen affair came to a head. Now an England team under Joe Root at a very different stage of their development face a major test of character when they try to stop the Australian juggernaut at the MCG next week. And Malan, who arrived as a Test cricketer with 140 in the third Test, says England remain united and determined to get something from the last two Tests. ‘The team spirit is probably the best I’ve ever known. We started talking about the next Test as soon as we lost in Perth and how we desperately want to win and get our pride back. ‘No one is feeling sorry for themselves, blaming people or
anything like that. We hold our hands up and we need to improve. None of us are the finished article.’ Malan insists England have given everything to the cause despite the Ashes being lost in 15 days. ‘It’s not through lack of trying,’ said Malan. ‘Chris Woakes had a GPS on and did 35 miles in the field. All the boys are putting in. ‘We need to be as aggressive with them guys as they are with us. If you take your foot off the gas they really seem to dominate.’