Wednesday 20 December 2017 15:23, UK
Mark Stoneman says he has been disappointed by his performances for England at the crease in the Ashes series.
The Surrey batsman has been one of England's best performers with the bat, behind only Dawid Malan and Jonny Bairstow, scoring 193 runs in six innings, including half-centuries in the Brisbane and Perth Tests.
Australia have proved to be far superior with the bat with captain Steve Smith leading from the front with 426 runs in the first three Tests.
Stoneman has been impressed by the Australians' form at the crease, but says he is unhappy with his contributions Down Under.
"Personally, it's been pretty disappointing because I've made starts in a lot of innings and the examples set by the Australians is that we need big scores, we need three-figure scores," said Stoneman.
"We made fifties in the first couple of Tests and they managed to make hundreds, that proved to be the difference. Here [Perth] we've had a couple of hundreds and they've had doubles.
"So from that point of view it has been pretty frustrating that I've not been able to make the bigger contributions that set us up on the platform to make five or six hundred which really gives you the foothold in the game."
Despite a tricky introduction to the Ashes, Stoneman is looking forward to playing in the Boxing Day Test at the MCG as England look to bounce back and avoid a series whitewash.
"I can't wait. There are experiences in world cricket that everybody would like to be a part of and a Boxing Day Test is certainly one of those," said Stoneman.
"Obviously it's not ideal going there 3-0 down but at the same time once the disappointment has settled we can look to the next challenge and what better way to bounce back than to perform well in the Boxing Day Test."
