‘I’m not going to write them off yet’ - Michael Hussey wants England to take inspiration from India

England ended Day four of the ongoing Sydney Test against Australia at 30/0, needing 358 runs more to win. Both the openers Haseeb Hameed and Zak Crawley played out a tricky period before stumps and will be keen on extending the already best opening partnership of the series for England.

But, it won’t be an easy task to chase such a huge total against a formidable Australian bowling attack. Injuries to Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, and Jonny Bairstow have only made the matter worst for the English team. Batting has remained a concern for the touring team since the first Test match and they hit the rock bottom during the Boxing Day Test when the batters could make only 68 runs in the second innings.

However, former Australian cricketer Michael Hussey wants England to take inspiration from the Indian team that traveled down under last year. India managed to draw a Test match at the same venue due to a heroic effort by Ravichandran Ashwin and Hanuma Vihari. The Indian team was also down due to several injury concerns but made it through after a determining performance in Sydney as well as the Gabba.

“This is what we love about Test cricket, you never know. Everyone had written India off last year. They were on their last leg, they were injured, but they found their spirit inside and I think England can draw inspiration from that,” Hussey said during a show on Cricbuzz.

There’s plenty of motivation for the English team – Michael Hussey

Hussey further added that the two English openers will have to perform exceptionally well to preserve their position in the team. “There are some other great stories in there as well – Zak Crawley and Hameed possibly playing for their careers. So there’s plenty of motivation for the English to show that spirit and fight,” Hussey said.

Hussey made it clear that Australia is clearly the favourites in the match and is likely to make it four in a row. But, he backed the English team to show some resistance against the Australian bowlers.

“I’m not going to write them off yet, but it’s going to be very difficult. There are going to be big challenges along the way. The pitch is certainly not as good as it was last year and the Australian bowlers are probably a bit fresher than they were this time last year. So it’s in Australia’s favour without a doubt, but England I’m sure will not go down without a fight,” Hussey added.