“It’s one of the reasons they’re 2-1 down, not 2-1 up” - Nasser Hussain on the one area that has let England down badly in Ashes 2023

Nasser Hussain reckons that England must improve their overall catching in the remaining two Ashes 2023 Tests, an area which has let them down significantly in the first three Tests. According to the former England captain, with better catching, the hosts could have been 2-1 or even 3-0 up in the series.

England have dropped as many as 17 catches in Ashes 2023. There have been some missed stumpings as well apart from no-balls, one of which from Stuart Broad cost England Usman Khawaja’s big scalp at Edgbaston.

In his column for the Daily Mail, Hussain urged England to work on their catching skills, pointing out that Jonny Bairstow’s keeping alone isn’t the problem.

“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," he wrote.

“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,” Hussain added.

Meanwhile, England announced their playing XI for the fourth Test to be played at Old Trafford in Manchester starting July 19. James Anderson has been recalled in place of Ollie Robinson.

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“If Murphy plays, England can’t let him settle” - Hussain

The former England captain also urged the hosts’ batters to be more proactive against Australia’s spinners to take advantage of Nathan Lyon’s absence. Hussain reckons that England allowed Todd Murphy to get away lightly in the first innings at Headingley before Ben Stokes went after him.

The 55-year-old wrote:

“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."

Hussain elaborated:

"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 beat Australia by three wickets at Headingley in another close contest to keep their Ashes 2023 hopes alive.