"The Boxing Day Test is a showpiece game - everyone talks about it and its crazy attendances and, although the series is gone, it's something everyone is looking forward to. We'll be looking to lift spirits and put in a performance."
Tuesday 26 December 2017 07:28, UK
Mark Stoneman reveals his Christmas wishes, recalls his battle with Australia's pacers in Perth, and reflects on Mitchell Starc's jaffa as England prepare for the MCG...
It was very disappointing to lose the Ashes at the WACA after being in what we thought was a very good position on day one - Australia countered us, stopped us making a massive total and then played really well to trump us with the bat.
We made hundreds for the first time on the trip with Dawid Malan and Jonny Bairstow but they came back with a double hundred for Steve Smith and a 181 for Mitchell Marsh, and really took the game away from us on a pitch that then deteriorated.
We boarded the plane to Australia with the belief that we were going to come over here and do really well but we have not performed to the level we feel we are capable of, despite showing glimpses.
Boxing Day at the MCG presents us with a chance to draw a line through what's gone, refocus and try to come away with a positive result.
It's a showpiece game in cricket - everyone talks about it and its crazy attendances and, although the series is gone, it's something everyone is looking forward to. We'll be looking to lift spirits and put in a performance for people who have travelled, as well as those at home.
Joe Root, as captain, gets harshly dealt the blame for things - he cops a lot of flak in the press as the leader of the team, so if we can get a win for him, as well as ourselves, it would be nice.
I really enjoyed the battle with the Australia pace bowlers in Perth - it was bloody hard work but, looking back on it, it was great fun. They are good memories to have.
It was a WACA pitch with a bit of pace and bounce in it after a couple of years where people complained it was pretty dull. For the last Ashes game at the venue, it whet the appetite of the Aussie attack and they really put the effort in.
I wore a nice one on the jaw from Josh Hazlewood which rattled the cage a little bit! Thankfully the equipment we have these days did the job.
Hazlewood's delivery hit me fairly hard and at first, I was slightly disoriented and had a bit of pain. I took my helmet off, took stock, opened my jaw a few times and then it was all good. Just crack on.
I really loved the contest. That's what it's all about - England v Australia, their quicks coming out hard against you and using their pace and bounce.
Australia have managed to keep their frontline quicks out on the park and those guys have used everything in their armoury, including the bouncer, to try and win games of cricket.
It's part of the game and you can't blame them for going about things that way. They have had the speed and the skill to use those tactics and it has worked for them and been a real bonus for Smith.
Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins have been in great rhythm and I'd definitely says it's the quickest sustained period of bowling I've faced, though the fastest spell I have faced was against Andrew Flintoff, back in 2009, I think, at Old Trafford before the wicket got turned around. He was coming back from injury and really put himself out that game!
My bat also got broken in Perth, but luckily I packed seven for this tour! One got broken off a Hazlewood yorker in Adelaide and then my handle shattered at the WACA, but thankfully it was only the handle, so I have had that bat re-handled and it should now be good to go for Boxing Day.
I'm not too superstitious with bats, to be honest - I hadn't actually hit a ball with the bat that got damaged in Perth before I took it out. I tend to go on the feel, if it feels nice in the hands then more often than not you put it in the right place to make contact with the ball.
When you're getting runs and hundreds, the bat feels like part of your body so the longer they last the better, but generally I am happy to pick up any bat.
My first-innings dismissal at the WACA created a few headlines as I was given out on review by Aleem Dar. When Starc's ball whizzed past my nose I heard a tiny little noise but thought it was glove just catching the grille, so I was fairly confident when I was given not out on the field.
Obviously, with the evidence that was there, Aleem was able to overturn it and I was on my way. It was pretty disappointing but a pretty decent delivery at the same time from Starc. It wasn't his only one of the Test…
The ball he bowled James Vince with in our second innings was unplayable. It was heading down leg side and a nice one for Vincey to clip off his legs but then it hit a crack and flew in the other direction.
You're never getting a bat on that unless you're playing down the wrong line in the first place!
The umpires were happy with the state of the pitch to eventually get going on day five so credit to the ground staff for their work. Once play commenced, the wicket was good to go.
It was quite strange, though, for an international venue to end up with wet patches on it after the night's rain. Generally in Australia, if it's not raining, you're playing as the surface dries so quickly.
We've now got a nice lunch planned for Christmas Day and it won't be my first Christmas over here with my wife being Australian.
When I'm over here with the in-laws I am generally on ham duties, making sure that's nicely glazed, whereas if I'm back home in England then my mam does the old traditional turkey, which is also top. It's a coin toss between the two as to which is better.
As far as Christmas presents this year go, I've only got a couple of things in mind - a hundred at the MCG and a Test match win!
