Defiant England refuse to crumble: Woakes

A defiant Chris Woakes is adamant a united England camp won't suffer the same fate that befell the fractured touring party that copped a 5-0 Ashes whitewash four years ago in Australia.

England's woes continued on Sunday when quick Craig Overton was ruled out of the Boxing Day Test match at the MCG with a rib injury.

The last England side to trail 3-0 in an Ashes series in Australia - in 2013-14 - crumbled once the series was beyond them.

The last Test of that series - a 281-run win to the home side at the SCG - was also the last Test of England firebrand Kevin Pietersen's career.

But the bitterness and recriminations of that series loss are absent this time around.

"We're still together as a group, the morale in the group is still really high, and there's no bickering, there's no separation within the group," Woakes said.

"I wasn't here on that previous Ashes tour, but by all accounts there were differences within the camp back then. That was well written about and well known about but it definitely doesn't feel like that here.

"Everyone is working hard to try and win this Test match.

"We've put in a hell of a lot of hard work - I know we haven't got much for it - but we're really hoping that we can come away with something and show some pride."

England's inability to press home a hard-fought advantage within sessions and days of cricket has been a key issue for the visitors.

Woakes believes they need to take a leaf out of the home side's book in that regard.

"Where we can learn from Australia is in those situations they've taken it and made sure they don't let their foot off the throat," he said.

"We need to make sure we do that and take those chances.

"I know we're 3-0 down but we want to try to make sure that we come away from this series 3-2.

"We know we're going to have to play better cricket."

2017-18 International Fixtures

Magellan Ashes Series

Australia Test squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Cameron Bancroft, Usman Khawaja, Peter Handscomb, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Marsh, Tim Paine (wk), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Jackson Bird.

England Test squad: Joe Root (c), James Anderson (vc), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Gary Ballance, Stuart Broad, Alastair Cook, Mason Crane, Tom Curran, Ben Foakes, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Ben Stokes, Mark Stoneman, James Vince, Chris Woakes.

First Test Australia won by 10 wickets. Scorecard

Second Test Australia won by 120 runs (Day-Night). Scorecard

Third Test Australia won by an innings and 41 runs. Scorecard

Fourth Test MCG, December 26-30. Tickets

Fifth Test SCG, January 4-8 (Pink Test). Tickets

Gillette ODI Series v England

First ODI MCG, January 14. Tickets

Second ODI Gabba, January 19. Tickets

Third ODI SCG, January 21. Tickets

Fourth ODI Adelaide Oval, January 26. Tickets

Fifth ODI Perth Stadium, January 28. Tickets

Prime Minister's XI

PM's XI v England Manuka Oval, February 2. Tickets

Gillette T20 trans-Tasman Tri-Series

First T20I Australia v NZ, SCG, February 3. Tickets

Second T20I – Australia v England, Blundstone Arena, February 7. Tickets

Third T20I – Australia v England, MCG, February 10. Tickets

Fourth T20I – NZ v England, Wellington, February 14

Fifth T20I – NZ v Australia, Eden Park, February 16

Sixth T20I – NZ v England, Seddon Park, February 18

Final – TBC, Eden Park, February 21