Chris Silverwood believes England can take "positives" out of a humiliating MCG thrashing that ensured Australia retained the Ashes less than halfway through the series.
Scott Boland claimed astonishing figures of 6-7 as the tourists capitulated to 68 all out in the morning session on day three, suffering a chastening innings-and-14 run defeat.
England needed a victory to have any chance of regaining the urn, but suffered a third hammering of what has been a painful series for Joe Root's side.
James Anderson had given them hope by taking 4-33 as were Australia bowled out for 267 on day two, but their batting frailties were exposed yet again on Tuesday.
Yet head coach Silverwood says it is not all doom and gloom for England and believes he still has the players' backing.
Asked if the players are stilt responding to him as head coach, Silverwood told BT Sport: "I think they are.
"We had a good honest chat after the last game [the defeat at the Adelaide Oval]. We just have to put performances together and start pushing back.
"It is disappointing for us all and the lads will be feeling that in the dressing room.
"But I have to give credit to Australia, particularly Scott Boland on debut and Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc for their opening spell last night.
"We had a good honest chat after the last Test, we just have to couple those performances together and find a way of pushing back against this bowling attack and scoring runs.
"Yesterday we had a little bit of disruption in the morning [a positive COVID-19 test in the team's family group] and I think the way the guys applied themselves on the field and the way the bowling attack rallied and got us back into this game was a credit to them.
"The way we caught in the last innings was good as well and I think there are positives coming out of this."
Silverwood believes England can salvage some pride in the remainder of a series that was over so soon after it started.
"We want to take something away from this series and we want to come back and compete in the last two Test matches," he added.
"We do have some world-class players and some youngsters as well who are learning on the job constantly. What we have to do is try and give them some confidence, we know they have ability and we do back them.
"We have to give them the opportunity to come out and show what they can do in the last two Tests."
Boland's figures were the best innings figures by any Australian on Test debut in Australia since Albert Trott took 8-43 against England at the Adelaide Oval in January 1895.
Chanderpaul scores unbeaten 83 as West Indies 'A' set Bangladesh 'A' a target of 461; hosts reach 47-0 at stumps
West Indies ‘A’ will have to take 10 wickets on Friday’s final day if they are to win the third unofficial Test against Bangladesh ‘A’ at the Syhlet International Stadium.
At stumps on Thursday, Bangladesh reached 47 without loss in their second innings, still needing to score 414 more to achieve a most unlikely victory.
Resuming from their overnight score of 157-7 with Nasum Ahmed on seven and Tanzim Hasan Sakib on 17, Bangladesh ‘A’ were bowled out for 205 thanks to Nasum Ahmed’s unbeaten 38.
Hasan Sakib failed to add to his overnight score when he was bowled by Veerasammy Permaul, who took all three remaining Bangladeshi wickets to finish with figures of 3-38. Kevin Sinclair took 2-75 and Anderson Phillip 2-36.
With a healthy lead of 240 runs, the West Indies declined to enforce the follow-on and went in search of quick runs. Opener Tagenarine Chanderpaul scored 83, his second such score of the match as the West Indies raced to 220-5 from 55.2 overs. Captain Joshua da Silva contributed an unbeaten 47, his third such score of the series.
Saif Hasan was the chief wicket-taker with 3-62 while Nasum Ahmed supported with 2-56.
Set a mammoth 461 for victory, Bangladesh ‘A’ still have a mountain to climb to achieve victory on the final day. Mahmudul Hasan Joy will resume on 28. With him at the crease is Zakir Hasan on 14.
West Indies ‘A’ lead the series 1-0.
Daniel Vettori: England’s winning habit more impressive than style of cricket
Daniel Vettori insists it is England’s winning habit rather than their ‘Bazball’ style that has earned the respect of Australia ahead of this summer’s Ashes.
Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes have inspired a thrilling revival of England’s Test team, winning 10 out of 12 matches by adopting an aggressive, never say die mindset.
Australia are aiming to retain the Ashes when the series opens at Edgbaston on June 16 and assistant coach Vettori, who played alongside McCullum for New Zealand, insists the hosts’ results trump how they were achieved.
“Irrespective of the style they’re using, they’re playing winning cricket and that’s the thing everyone gravitates towards,” Vettori said.
“The fact that they’ve played so well over an extended period of time has been what’s so impressive.
“Brendon wouldn’t want to make the attention about himself, but he’s got this moniker going for him now. That’s Brendan since he came out of the womb – he’s pretty positive.
“England keep coming and so you’ve got to anticipate that and not back off.”
England are hoping that Stokes is able to play a full part in the five-Test series following his struggle with a knee injury that has required a cortisone injection.
However, there is uncertainty over what contribution their talisman will be able to make with the ball after he was unable to bowl in his side’s most recent outing against New Zealand in February.
“We’re preparing for him to be his normal self. He’s one of the top all-rounders in world cricket. We know how much he brings to the table as an all-rounder,” Vettori said.
“It’s like Cameron Green for us, offering that balance and ability to come in and be an aggressive weapon along with his batting, which has been exceptional.
“Every team wants their all-rounder up and running because it makes things run so smoothly.”
While England warm-up for the Ashes with a one-off Test against Ireland, Australia face India in the ICC World Test Championship final at the Oval.
Vettori is undecided over who has the better build-up.
“Ask me again on the back of these four days of prep!” the former spin bowler said.
“But there’s a real excitement that we have the ability to play one of the best teams in the world in such a crucial game and that should set us up well for the Ashes.
“It’s six Tests of high intensity and you couldn’t ask for anything more.”
England team bus delayed after Just Stop Oil protests
England’s Test summer failed to get off to the best start after the team bus was delayed on its way to Lord’s by Just Stop Oil protesters.
Jonny Bairstow posted a photo on his Instagram story on Thursday morning, which showed Just Stop Oil protesters and police officers in front of their team coach in the middle of a road in Kensington by England’s hotel.
Bairstow’s caption read: “If we’re a bit late, it’s not our fault.”
However, there was no delay to proceedings on the opening day of the one-off Test against Ireland with the four-day contest getting under way at 11am as planned – despite the five-minute delay to the team’s journey.
Just Stop Oil protesters were able to disrupt the Gallagher Premiership final at Twickenham between Saracens and Sale last weekend.
Two men wearing Just Stop Oil T-shirts invaded the pitch midway through the first half and threw orange paint powder onto the field before being removed by security staff.
A similar incident occurred at the Crucible during the World Snooker Championship in April.
Robert Milkins’ match against Joe Perry was interrupted when a man wearing a Just Stop Oil T-shirt jumped on to table one and tipped orange powder over the cloth.
Amid the threat of potential protests this week at Lord’s, the MCC said it has enhanced its security measures in some areas for this match.
“We look forward to welcoming players and spectators to the first international Test match of the summer at Lord’s. Their safety and security is the highest priority for MCC,” an MCC spokesperson told the PA news agency.
“We have a number of ground regulations that help us achieve that; including not entering the playing area or demonstrating.
“Whilst protests would disrupt the game, we have a number of security measures in place, some visible, some less so to deter this. In some areas we have enhanced those existing provisions ahead of this summer’s schedule.”
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