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Stewart happy with English fightback after horror start
AFP
5 January 1999
SYDNEY, Jan 5 (AFP) - England lost the Ashes series 3-1 to Australia
but skipper Alec Stewart was delighted by the way his team fought back
from two Tests down.
It was the sixth consecutive series England have lost to Australia,
but Stewart was heartened by the fighting sprit shown by his players
in the final two Tests in Melbourne and Sydney.
``We proved that when we're certainly right up against it we fight back
well, `` Stewart said.
``I said in Adelaide (third Test) the Ashes had gone and Australia
deserved to keep hold of them and we would try to make it 2-all.
``We deserved the win in Melbourne, and we played well here, but not
quite well enough and Australia deserved to win.''
England were outplayed in the first three Tests and trailed 2-0 going
into the Melbourne Test only to stage one of their greatest comebacks
and conjure a 12-run win.
Stewart's men came to the final Test needing a victory to draw the
series, but lost a vital toss and had to bat last against Stuart
MacGill and Shane Warne on a spin-friendly Sydney Cricket Ground
pitch.
Stewart, who lost all five toss to Mark Taylor, said two of them were
particularly vital, in Adelaide and Sydney.
``We missed chances early on, Brisbane and Perth come to mind, and we
weren't playing as well as we should have done and because of that we
went 2-0 down.
``We were always trying to drag it back, we almost did, but not quite.''
Stewart praised the contribution of batsmen, Nasser Hussain and Mark
Ramprakash, through the series, and Dean Headley had proved in a
couple of Tests that he is a class bowler.
``Darren Gough just underlined just what we knew he could do and if we
had held onto a few more catches he would have ended up the leading
wicket-taker in the series and Alex Tudor emerged during the tour,'' he
said.
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