Former England batsman and coach, Graham Gooch, thinks Alastair Cook’s men can salvage the deciding Test against New Zealand.
England have been left facing an uphill battle to avoid defeat in the third and final Test of the series against New Zealand in Auckland.
The tourists will start the final day on 90-4, needing to score an unlikely 481 to win, but more realistically needing to bat all day to draw.
After losing four wickets before close of play on day four this target is seeming more and more impossible to achieve, yet batting coach and former player Graham Gooch thinks England can do it.
“I’m not giving any excuses because we have been outplayed, but we still have a chance to salvage something,” Gooch told BBC Sport.
“We’re under a lot of pressure but we have some good players in our dressing room, some good young players and we have to believe we can save the game.”
With captain Alastair Cook, Nick Compton and Jonathan Trott already back in the pavilion after being dismissed on day four, responsibility for saving the series will rest on the shoulders of Ian Bell and the young Yorkshire duo of Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow.
England also have Matt Prior – who has batted well all series – to come in after Bairstow but although the tourists have some strong batsmen in hand, it is going to be a tough ask for them to dig in for three sessions on day five.
New Zealand will be sensing victory on home soil as they look to improve their No.8 Test ranking and show the cricket world they are a team who can compete on the biggest stage.
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