NASSER HUSSAIN: England must hold onto their catches and slaughter Australia’s spinners to keep their Ashes dreams alive in the fourth Test

England go into Wednesday’s crucial fourth Test at Old Trafford needing victory to keep their Ashes dreams alive. 

Mail Sport’s NASSER HUSSAIN outlines the areas they need to get right.

Hold on!

The first thing England need to do is catch better. A lot of people have been focusing on Jonny Bairstow, but the team in general have not caught well — and it’s one of the reasons they’re 2-1 down, not 2-1 up, or even 3-0 up.

A total of 17 dropped catches and missed stumpings have cost England 447 runs in the first three Tests. That doesn’t even factor in wickets with no-balls, with Stuart Broad overstepping as he bowled Usman Khawaja at Edgbaston proving costly.

It’s hard enough taking 20 wickets against a side as good as Australia, without needing to create 25 or 26 chances per game. Things have to improve in Manchester.

England must improved their fielding in Manchester after dropping 17 catches in three Tests

The focus has been on Jonny Bairstow but England have not caught well as a team to date

Go for it, Jonny

There’s no getting away from the fact that it is a big game for Bairstow. It is right that England have stuck with him, and he often responds when he has a point to prove. 

The 10-day break will have done him a lot of good, because he looked a bit scrambled at Headingley. When he was batting, his bottom hand started coming through a bit strongly because he was tense, and he left a catch to Harry Brook at short leg that he would normally have gone for.

That told me his confidence was a bit low. Jonny is at his best when he’s being positive, with both bat and gloves. He has to go for every catch and bat with an attacking mindset. He’s the kind of guy who reads everything and loves proving people wrong. England will be stronger if he’s firing on all cylinders.

Bairstow must have an attacking mindset with both the bat and gloves during the fourth Test

Percentage game

England have lost a lot of wickets to the short ball in this series, and while you don’t want them to put the shot away entirely, there are times when they might play the percentages better.

At Headingley, for example, it made sense to take on the bouncers if you were hitting towards the Western Terrace, which had the shorter boundary. It was the same when Ben Stokes got going on the last day at Lord’s and hit towards the Tavern. But if you’ve got four men out waiting for the miscue, and you’re hitting towards the longer boundary, just be careful. 

You may hit one or two sixes, but the chances are you won’t hang around for long. England have to be smarter at times.

Follow the leader

Stokes has set an example these last two Tests that others might like to follow. Last summer, he really went at the bowling, because he wanted to send his team-mates the message that it was OK to take chances. He was laying the groundwork for how he wanted England to play.

But at Lord’s and Headingley, he reined himself in for a while, then played his shots — they were two perfect examples of reading the situation. England have spent a year establishing this mindset and it has generally served them well. But Stokes has shown there is room for caution too.

Ben Stokes has set the example for England by playing the situation during the last two Tests

Keep Marnus quiet

People talk about the fact that England have limited Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne to one score above 50. But, for me, Labuschagne is the major concern for Australia, because Smith has made two hundreds in his last four games, starting with the World Test Championship final against India at the Oval.

Labuschagne is still scratching around for his rhythm. He’s changed guard from off stump to middle, then back to off, and he keeps playing himself in, then getting out to soft dismissals. The busiest man in Manchester will be Australia’s batting coach Michael Di Venuto, giving him all those throwdowns.

It will help England’s task if they keep getting David Warner early — if Labuschagne’s coming in against the new ball at 20 for one, rather than against the old ball at 100 for one, Australia’s task will be that much harder. And Warner, for all his struggles against Stuart Broad, remains the kind of player who will go at you. He is still capable of getting Australia off to a flyer. If he succeeds, Labuschagne’s chances improve.

Marnus Labuschagne is seeking rhythm but could pose a threat if the batsman finds his form

Murphy’s law

Whoever ends up bowling Australia’s off-breaks — be it the youngster Todd Murphy or the part-timer Travis Head — England will have to go after him and put more overs into the legs of the Aussie seamers.

Pat Cummins is playing his fifth Test in a row here and Mitchell Starc his third — that will matter if it goes to a decider at the Oval.

If Murphy plays, England can’t let him settle. They allowed him to get through his first five overs for five runs at Headingley before Stokes took him down. The same goes for Head, who does have nine Test wickets and showed at Lord’s he can do a job, but he offers nothing to fear.

England cannot allow spinner Todd Murphy to settle if Australia decide to play the youngster

Cross fingers

England have to pray it doesn’t rain in Manchester, because they must win the final two Tests to regain the urn. And if the pitch has something in it, like Headingley did, then an attack of Jimmy Anderson, Broad, Chris Woakes and Mark Wood is a match for anyone.