Ashes 2019: Australia must learn from Burns' character, says Waugh

Rory Burns was a slightly unlikely England hero on day two of the Ashes, but Steve Waugh wanted Australia to learn from the opener.

Australia mentor Steve Waugh feels the visitor has to learn from the way Rory Burns dug in to make 125 not out on the second day of the first Ashes Test.

England put itself in a strong position on Friday as Burns produced his maiden century in the longest format, moving the host to within 17 runs of Australia's first-innings total with six wickets in hand.

Burns rode his luck at times but ultimately turned the match in his side's favour. Waugh was impressed by how the England opener handled himself and stated the Australia batsmen should take note.

"That's Test match cricket. You've got to grind it out and do the hard yards," he said. "It's not about how good you look, it's about how many runs you get.

"That was a good innings for some of our players to look at and learn from, sure.

"I know myself, playing tough Test match cricket, when someone scores runs for the opposition, you've got to be smart to look at how they got those runs, how they went about it.

"When you watch someone get 120 not out, you've got to take something from that and put it in your own game."

Waugh added: "I haven't seen a lot of him, but his concentration was excellent. He obviously knows his game really well.

READ | Ashes 2019: Century a long way from Ireland woes for Burns

"To get 100 on that pitch is a good performance - in Ashes cricket, it's really important for his side. I'll give him full credit.

"He played and missed a few times, but you need a little bit of luck. He showed a lot of character today, so he's got to be proud of that effort."

Neither side were helped by more errors from the umpires, who were widely criticised after day one, but Waugh was not looking for excuses.

"There's been a couple [of mistakes] over the past few days, but I think it evens out," he said. "You can't rely on that to win a Test match.

"You need to take luck out of the equation and play a little bit better."

Burns thoroughly enjoyed his outing and is keen to see England build a lead on day three.

"It was a wonderful experience," he said. "Hopefully I'm not done yet and hopefully we can push on from the position we're in tomorrow."