England skipper Joe Root was seen happy with his team’s character during the Melbourne Test, which his team managed to turn the tables but an inspired Steve Smith stood tall in between England and triumph.

Smith hanged his bat throughout the day five on a ‘rare’ dead surface of Melbourne Cricket Ground, in the process he notched up his third hundred of this Ashes.

Praising his team, Root quoted “In terms of our squad, the character is never something that I question, and the way that we apply ourselves and the attitude that we take is always there.”

He further added “It proved this week after three tough games and tough results to come back and put in a performance like that was extremely pleasing for me as a captain. They had a lot of disappointment coming away from Perth and you could see the way they went about training that they were desperate to prove a lot of people wrong and make sure we get something good out of this tour.”

England was so close yet so far from winning MCG Test after a marathon knock by Alastair Cook, who carried his bat during England’s innings for his unbeaten 244. However, it was Smith’s who changed the outcome of the match from a result to draw.

Praising his counterpart, the 26-year-old said “It’s difficult on that surface. Fair play to him and he played extremely well. And even when it is a bat-friendly pitch like that, under the pressure of knowing you have to bat all day to try and get a draw is quite difficult and he obviously played very well, and made it quite difficult for us. Especially when the ball moves, we are more than capable of getting him out. We just have to keep trying every option if he does get in and if it is a good surface, to bat on and keep trusting and believing in what we do.”

After finishing the fourth Test without a result, England will travel to Sydney with a boosted spirit. Australia has already won the Ashes, so they can try an experiment in the final Test, which will commence on January 4.