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Sir Ian Botham: 'Fragile England lack hunger'

Sir Ian Botham says that England must work harder if they are to have any chance of retaining the Ashes in Australia.

Sir Ian Botham believes that "fragile" England do not want to win the Ashes as much as Australia following their defeat in the second Test on Monday.

The hosts breezed to a comfortable 218-run victory at the Adelaide Oval to take a 2-0 series lead heading into their third match in Perth.

"Ben Stokes was the quickest of the England bowlers, on debut. There's a message there," Botham told Sky Sports News. "England have got to think about where they are going to go and say 'how much do you want it boys? Do you want to go home 5-0 or do you want to make a fight of it?'

"That's the question you've got to be asking the dressing room now. Australia wanted this so much. They've lost the last three series. England had a chance to set a record and Australia weren't going to let them do it. From what I've seen here, they are the side who want it. They are the most hungry of the two sides. They want the victory and they are going out there and they are playing accordingly.

"We talked about their bowling before the series and how it looks; we thought it might be a bit fragile but we need to have a look at ourselves, when it comes to fragile. We said their batting lineup looked fragile. What are the making of ours? The momentum is with them and you've got to do something and quickly, just to slow them down. If you can and you win a session in a Test, you can change everything but you need to win a session early on."

The third Test gets underway at the WACA in Perth on December 13.

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Australia's Mitchell Johnson is congratulated by teammates after taking the wicket of England's Stuart Broad during day three of the second Ashes test on December 7, 2013
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