Freddie: We don't need more motivation

12 April 2012

Andrew Flintoff will lead England out at the WACA having told his side they are playing one of the biggest matches of their careers in the crucial third Ashes Test.

The England captain and the rest of the squad have picked themselves up from the heartbreak of defeat on the final day at Adelaide and are now determined to bounce back from their 2-0 deficit.

"I don't think we need any more motivation," claimed Flintoff. "We're in Australia playing an Ashes series and for all of us now it's probably the biggest Test match of our careers."

He added: "We don't need any more motivation and everyone is up for it in the dressing room. We've practised well over the last few days, Adelaide is gone now and we've moved on."

England's ability to bounce back has been tested before when they came back from losing the first Test to win the Ashes in 2005, but this is a far greater proposition.

While a draw would keep them in the series, the tourists know that another defeat in the remaining three Tests will signal the end of their Ashes hopes just 14 months after regaining them after an 18-year gap.

"We've got to believe we can get back in the series, but we can't get ahead of ourselves," said Flintoff. "There are three Test matches left but we can't look too far forward.

"This Perth Test is huge, we've got to get back into the series with ideally a win and if not a draw and then the last two will look after themselves.

"After the loss in Adelaide it was a little bit flat which you'd expect after a defeat like that but the team have been great throughout.

"There is still that confidence and the calmness which we've had all along on this trip and it's a side full of character and that's going to have to come out in this Test."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in