England need to show fight
England assistant coach Paul Farbrace has called on the team to be prepared to fight tooth and nail to get something out of the third Ashes Test in Perth.
Already trailing 2-0 in the series England saw their hopes of retaining the Ashes grow ever slimmer as Steve Smith's mammoth effort put Australia on top.
Smith became the first skipper to notch an Ashes double hundred since Allan Border back in 1993 and England could find no way through him or Mitchell Marsh who turned his maiden Test hundred into an unbeaten 181 by stumps.
That's beautiful #Ashes pic.twitter.com/Gi4JlxbI1Y
— cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) December 16, 2017
Speaking to BT Sports after play Farbrace said: "Everybody has got to get stuck in, stand up and fight and scrap in the second innings.
"Until the Test match finishes, we have to believe you can get something out of it.
"It's going to be hard, but it is Test cricket. The best teams find a way to compete when their backs are against the wall. Now we need to show we have got character, we have got guts."
Farbrace praised England new boy Craig Overton who bowled on Saturday despite a suspected cracked rib.
ALSO READ: Flaccid England punished by Smith
The quick bowled reasonably well but was unable to get any reward for his effort.
Farbrace said: "There's a lad who's playing in his first Test series, who's cracked a rib and still gone out and bowled on it. That's showed volumes about his character – and he bowled pretty well as well."
Mitch Marsh putting on a clinic and the WA fans are loving it! https://t.co/57Bmg3zS3P #Ashes pic.twitter.com/numVHYzb4V
— cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) December 16, 2017
The assistant coach defended the effort of England in the field on a day were Australia notched 346 runs in 90 overs for the loss of just one wicket.
Farbrace said: "We knew before the series that there were going to be times when it was going to be tough for our bowlers – today was one of those days.
"We worked really hard today as a bowling group. We haven't got that extra pace or magical spin.
"When the ball's flying by you, it sometimes looks like you're not trying. But we've given our all. "I thought our body language was pretty good. We stuck at it but we haven't quite been good enough to get wickets on that surface."
Australia reached 549/4 by stumps leading England by 146 runs with some batting still to come.
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