It is do or die this week in Melbourne.
We’ve not been good enough so far on this tour and there is no point in sugar coating it. We have to produce a better performance in this Test or it will be over and the Ashes will be gone.
We have the ability to play better, we have the players to produce better, but there’s no point stroking our chins and thinking about it, we just have to do it.
There have been too many mistakes made by too many players and that is why we are where we are. And the mistakes have been repeated, which is why we had a frank and open discussion as a group after the Adelaide Test.
I don’t know why it has caused surprise, because this is what you need to do when there are things to be said and solutions to be found.
Sport can be tough, and Test cricket especially so when things aren’t going well. You can tell how frustrated Joe Root was after the last defeat and we all felt it.
But I don’t want to be a part of a team that just sweeps things under the carpet and pretends like everything is ok when it’s not.
I want to be part of a dressing room where we can have these chats when necessary and tell each other exactly what we think and where we think we can improve.
It is not a blame game. It is done for the right reasons, to try and help the team get better and start winning. I had my piece to say and hopefully got it across in the right way, but then others joined in and anyone who had something to contribute was able to.
We don’t have chats like that very often, but it needed to happen, and I hope that people take the right things away from it, get the work done that they need to before the match and then put in a performance we can all be proud of come Boxing Day.
And what a game it could be. A Boxing Day Test in front of so many people is what it is all about and it would be the perfect occasion to turn things around.
We are in a very obvious position at 2-0 down. We need to win, so we cannot die wondering, and we won’t.
It is an exciting place to be in many ways. I know I’m very excited about the game and the challenge in front of us.
We have no choice but to put a positive foot forward and give the Aussies something to think about. That is how I’ve always played my cricket and I’ll be doing just the same this week.
There is no point getting to the end of this Test and thinking, ‘oh I wish I’d done this, I wish I’d done that.’ Too late.
We need to play this game with no regrets. Get it clear in our minds how we want to play, get the work done in preparation and then go out and deliver something for the fans to enjoy after Christmas Day.
A few of us have got our families out here for Christmas and it is great to have them to take your mind off things on the field at times.
My room is like Santa’s grotto with a tree up, and stockings hanging off the TV stand in readiness for a visit from Father Christmas.
But my wife calls me the grinch because I don’t really get sucked into the Christmassy stuff in the run up to the day.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Christmas Day and can’t wait to see if my kids have been good enough this year to get a visit from Father Christmas, but it is all about the day for me.
I don’t need to be playing Christmas songs for a month to get in the mood. Apparently that makes me a grinch! Merry Christmas everyone!
