England must fix Ashes problems and quickly - Bell

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AFP Adelaide
Last Updated : Dec 07 2013 | 4:21 PM IST
Ian Bell says England must quickly fix their problems if they are to keep the Ashes from the dominant Australians.
England collapsed for a third time in the series for just 172 in reply to Australia's massive 570 for nine declared and are facing a 530-run deficit heading into the fourth day of the second Adelaide Test on Sunday.
Bell, who again expressed his willingness to bat at number three for England, was one of few shining beacons among the abject tourists' batting performance, scoring an unbeaten 72.
But the senior batsman admits time is running out as the Aussies close in on going two-up in the five-Test series over the closing two days of the Adelaide Test.
"Obviously, it's another disappointing performance. You can't afford in Test matches, certainly the first innings you have, to get bowled out for under 200 ... You're not going to win anything.
"We need to fix it pretty quickly if we want to get back into this series.
"It's just not good enough. We need to make sure we put that right, and we'll have an opportunity second innings to at least show people we're going to show some fight."
Bell said the Adelaide Test was still salvageable, although it would take something special from the team's batsmen to prevent losing to Michael Clarke's Australians.
"You've all seen what we've done in the past. These games are 'saveable', but someone is going to have to play an incredible innings," he said.
"But what we've done in the last three innings isn't going to get us close. So... Probably two or three guys are really going to have to step up. It's a challenge, but that leads to opportunities, so we need to take it.
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First Published: Dec 07 2013 | 4:21 PM IST

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