'Jubilant' ex-England quick says Oz thrashing in Ashes 'payback for sleepless nights'

Former England fast bowler Devon Malcolm has congratulated the current England squad for whitewashing Australia 3-0 in the Ashes with just this week's Test at The Oval to go, saying that the Ashes hosts are giving a bit of payback for the sleepless nights faced by him when he played against Australia.

According to the Daily Star, Malcolm, who took 42 wickets in 15 Ashes Tests, was all the more jubilant as he played in under the captaincy of David Gower, Graham Gooch and Mike Atherton, who suffered five Ashes defeats in five.

The report however, said that the former bowler was used to heartache from the outset when former Australian stars Geoff Marsh and Mark Taylor put on 329 for the first wicket on his Test debut.

Happy as he believes that England is paying back for the times when he faced sleepless nights while facing Australia, Malcolm said that in his time, Australian greats like Steve and Mark Waugh, Allan Border, Shane Warne, Matthew Hayden and Glenn McGrath were desperate to squash them and did not give them time to breathe.

But Malcolm said that the boot is on the other foot now, and praised England for showing their ruthless side and thrashing the Australians, although he added that not many of the current England side knows the feeling of losing against Australia and the fear of playing against them.

Malcolm further said that the payback feels 'sweet' for him, adding that he enjoyed every wicket, score and victory against the Australians.