Australia second innings 4-263 dec, match drawn
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England captain Joe Root has praised his team's ability to respond under pressure despite falling short of a breakthrough Test victory at the MCG.
The tourists had been in prime position to force victory after dismissing Australia for 327 in their first innings, and responding with 491, due largely to an unbeaten double century from Alastair Cook. But a lifeless deck, combined with rain on Friday, hampered their hopes and they were ultimately forced to accept a draw after Steve Smith's third century of the series.
What they did do, however, was end Australia's hopes of an Ashes whitewash, and now have a platform to build on ahead of the final Test in Sydney, beginning on Thursday.
"Of course, we didn't want it to be a whitewash. It wasn't hard to get the guys in the right frame of mind for that. You could see at training they were desperate to prove a lot of people wrong," said Root, who celebrated his 27th birthday on Saturday.
"I am very proud of the way we went about it. To come off three very difficult games and put in a performance like that was very pleasing. That's what we are about as a side. That's a fair reflection of what we are capable of as a team. On a very unresponsive wicket, to perform how we did on that first and second day with the ball was outstanding.
"I am disappointed that we couldn't quite crack it open but we tried absolutely everything. The effort and work rate from all the guys was there all day."
The tourists are likely to seriously consider at least one change on what could be a spin-friendly SCG, with Moeen Ali under immense pressure to retain his spot.
While Root has offered him support, Ali appears to have lost all confidence in his batting. Root also appeared unwilling to use Ali's off-spin at key times in the second innings, even preferring his own part-time spin. That does not bode well for Ali, with uncapped leg-spinner Mason Crane in the frame to make his debut.
"Moeen is a fine player. He has, obviously, had a tough tour to now. He is going to do some great things for England in the future. He has in the past," Root said.
"You have seen a number of guys respond well to a difficult few weeks on this tour already. There is no reason why Moeen can't come back from that."
Cook's undefeated 244 was the highest score of any man who has carried his bat through a Test innings and revitalised the career of the former Test skipper.
"We have trained really well and we just haven't quite done justice for ourselves on the cricket field," Cook said.
Stuart Broad, after a wicketless Perth Test, responded in Melbourne with four first-innings wickets and helped to take the game away from Australia with a fighting half-century with Cook.
James Anderson showed there was plenty of life in his 35-year-old by claiming four wickets and delivering 59 overs for the match.
"In terms of our squad, character is something that I never questioned. The way we applied ourselves and the attitude we take is always there. We 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," Root said.
"They are the sort of responses you want to see from your players. That's a fair reflection of us as a side and we are a better team than how we have played on this trip. That's a benchmark now for us to move forward and try and make sure we go one better in Sydney and get that win."
Australia were in trouble when they fell to 4-178, which effectively was 4-14, with two sessions remaining on Saturday. Root had even brought himself into the attack and induced David Warner into a wild slog-sweep which was caught at cover. However, the tourists were not able to cash in, with Smith being the primary roadblock, finishing unbeaten on 102 when he declared Australia's second innings closed at 4-263, ending play.
"I thought we did everything we could to take that forward. We exhausted every option," Root said.