Sydney, Jan 3 (IANS) England captain Andrew Strauss Monday vowed to break the jinx of not winning back-to-back matches in the fifth and last Ashes Test here.
England won the second test at Adelaide, but lost the third in Perth before crushing Australia in Melbourne.
‘We have got a mental hurdle to get over here,’ Strauss was quoted as saying in The Mirror.
‘If you look back we have been very good at coming back after defeats and less good after wins so that is something we have got to put right.
‘Sometimes there is a reason for it, such as the other team playing well, and sometimes we have to hold our hand up and say we were not in the right space mentally to play well.
‘We have talked about it a lot and the guys are aware of it.
‘A lot of people have been patting us on the back and telling us how brilliant we are but the reality is that you are only as good as your next game, so we have to get stuck in here and play well.
‘Every match is a test for you as a side, this one in particular because it is easy to take our foot off the pedal and that is something I am desperate to avoid,’ he said.
Australia were 134 for four on the first day of the Sydney Test Monday. The hosts are trailing the series 1-2.
