Melbourne: England have played the better cricket in the Ashes series despite a "blip" in Perth and will seek to halt Australia's momentum in the fourth test, according to the touring side's in-form batsman Ian Bell.

"Certainly they have got some momentum going into it, there's no doubt. They played fantastic cricket at the WACA but I think out of the three test matches I'd say we've been playing the better cricket," the 28-year-old right-hander told reporters on Thursday.

Australia turned round a crushing innings and 71-run defeat in the second test with a 267-run thrashing of England in Perth to leave the series delicately poised at 1-1 ahead of the match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground which starts on Sunday.

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"We've had a blip at Perth. We knew Australia at some point were going to play some very good cricket and some great individidual performances," Bell said.

"When we come to Melbourne now, I'm sure we can put right what went wrong ... We've done some pretty special things since we've been in Australia and we're excited what this week holds for us."

GRATEFUL NATION

While Australia's return to form has been celebrated by a grateful nation, England have gone into introspective mode with extra time to contemplate their thumping loss in Perth.

Australia toiled in the nets at the MCG on Thursday while England's duties were limited to a sun-drenched autograph session for a handful of players at a picturesque riverside shopping centre.

England's pacemen appeared to tire late in the Perth test and Bell was quick to defend the team's preparations.

"A bit of downtime isn't a bad thing ... It's the usual thing to be training two days before a test, not three, for us," he said.

"Just because we haven't been at the nets playing cricket, the guys have still been at the gym, doing their physical work and making sure we're still ready to go at training tomorrow."

Ashes 2010-11

Bell scored his third half-century of the series at the WACA and with this new-found confidence is pushing for a promotion up the order, although he still has not scored a century against Australia.

"My performances are becoming better under pressure," said Bell, whose knock of 72 against Australia at the Oval last year when batting at number three laid the foundation for England to win the final test and the series 2-1.

"I think I'm starting to show the kind of cricketer I think people saw in me in my early ages ... Definitely, I want an Ashes hundred and a few of them, to be honest," he added.