NASSER HUSSAIN: England have to remain positive but be SMARTER in their run chase to save the Ashes

The moment the umpires said play would finally start yesterday after a long delay for rain England were right out there behind them and ready to go.

Contrast that with Lord’s when there was a rain break on the first day and there was confusion over when play was restarting. England looked slow in getting out.

Here they realised this was a great window and perfect opportunity to bowl Australia out under lights and, at the start of play at least, heavy clouds.

More than any ground in the world, once it’s cloudy and the lights are on, the ball zips around at Headingley and England got a beautiful shine on the ball in that dramatic session that saw them bowl Australia out for 224.

On the second day there was very little swing but now there was considerable movement through the air and in Chris Woakes and Stuart Broad England had the ideal two bowlers to utilise those conditions.

Woakes took the crucial wicket of Mitchell Marsh, who threatened to extend Australia’s lead

Stuart Broad’s thrilling bowling led to the dismissal of Todd Murphy during the third day

Mark Wood took the wicket of Australian captain Pat Cummins, who went for a single run

And the pair bowled beautifully in pitching the ball up to the majority of the Australian batsman and getting their rewards to end up with three wickets each.

Woakes has had a fabulous game on his return to Test cricket for the first time in almost 18 months.

I was surprised he didn’t play at Lord’s and in these conditions he bowls that perfect length and took advantage of a little bit of uneven bounce.

The only thing I would have done differently was change the short-ball tactic to Travis Head that England persisted with even when it became clear conditions had changed from the second day.

England kept on bowling short, with all their fielders on the boundary, and Head just kept on belting them, hitting three sixes and smashing 77 before he was the last out. They could have bowled much more conventionally at Head.

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I would have had them bowling fuller with a couple of slips and a gully and tried to nick him off because the ball was still swinging and wobbling when it went past the stumps through to Jonny Bairstow.

I would have backed one of Broad or Woakes to have got him earlier by bowling fuller. Just look at Broad’s record against left handers to prove that. 

The other thing England could have done was try to get Head down the leg side, as Australia did Ben Duckett at Lord’s, with Alex Carey standing ready for the chance. Bairstow dropped Head down the leg side in the first innings and he could have stood down there now, like Carey did at Lord’s, with a legside bouncer plan. As it was Bairstow didn’t reach a couple down there again.

When England decided to chase at the toss they would have remembered those pitches in recent times here that have got flatter and flatter and have seen the last five Tests won by the side batting last.

I would just say that this pitch is slightly drier and more uneven than we have come to see at Headingley so that will make this chase of 251 just that little bit more difficult.

Moeen Ali has five Test centuries to his name and could prove crucial to England’s run chase

Ben Stokes’ 80 runs in the first innings kept England’s hopes of winning the series alive

We know England will remain positive, as we saw in the brief opening to their innings last night, and the fielding side can lose control very quickly here, as we have already seen in another brilliant Headingley Test.

The key now is for England to remain positive but also slightly smarter. When you’ve got five Test hundreds like Moeen Ali and when you can bat as well as Woakes it’s not in your favour to try to take the pull on towards the long boundary, as both did in the first innings.

We know that Australia will go short at Moeen again if he bats today and it’s all very well trying to pull towards the Western Terrace but just be a bit more street-smart. Don’t put the shot away but be a fraction more watchful when you play it.

I believe the odds are slightly in England’s favour now, particularly as they got through to the close without loss last night, and because they have Ben Stokes in their side.

If the captain comes in today with not many to get the job will be completed by Stokes and if he comes in with England in trouble we know, with the way he has played before on this ground and the way he has played in this series, he will try to find a way to get his side home again.

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