Steve Smith and an unresponsive pitch combined to dash England’s hopes of a first win of the series on Saturday, but captain Joe Root praised his team’s “character” for rallying in the wake of their meek surrender of the Ashes in Perth.
The fourth test ended in a draw late on day five, with home captain Smith’s unbeaten 102 saving Australia and doling out another portion of frustration for England’s bowlers, who toiled fruitlessly on a flat Melbourne Cricket Ground strip.
England will head to the fifth and final test in Sydney still 3-0 behind in the series but in a far more positive frame of mind after dominating the hosts for most of the match.
“In terms of our squad, the character is never something that I question, and the way that we apply ourselves and the attitude that we take is always there,” Root told reporters.
“It proved this week after three tough games and tough results to come back and put in a performance like that was extremely pleasing for me as a captain.
“They had a lot of disappointment coming away from Perth and you could see the way they went about training that they were desperate to prove a lot of people wrong and make sure we get something good out of this tour.”

Root hails England fight, worries about Smith
England's Joe Root plays a shot. (File photo: Reuters)
Reuters, Melbourne
Saturday 30 December 2017
Last Update: Wednesday, 20 May 2020 KSA 09:50 - GMT 06:50
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