Ashes 2019 | Mark Waugh weighs in on the state of play

One of Australia’s greatest batsman has lamented an Aussie snub which he thinks cost them in one of the worst Ashes losses on record.

The hammer is well and truly hanging over the head of Australian cricket team with the fourth Test on the line in Manchester.

After going down in possibly one of the worst losses in Test history at Headingley last month, all eyes will be on the tourists — who will be bolstered by the return of Steve Smith — to fire back barbs at the jubilant hosts.

Ben Stokes’ heroic 135 not-out to seal the deal alongside tailender Jack Leach provided utterly demoralising viewing for Aussies at home and abroad, but former Aussie batsman Mark Waugh says one thing could have saved the baggy greens at the eleventh hour.

The 54-year-old said the omission of the underperforming Mitchell Starc, replaced by James Pattinson who filled in as third seamer, proved fatal when a series of well-placed yorkers at Leach’s feet was needed.

Starc is renowned around the world as one of the best men to bowl at the death, most memorably seen during the 2015 World Cup campaign where he snagged Player of the Series.

“If Starc had played last Test, I reckon we (would have) won,” Waugh said ahead of the toss of the fourth Test. “I reckon he (would have) knocked Jack Leach over with the yorker.”

Starc was moved back into the side for the Manchester contest, which typically produces a dry, bouncy deck for the tall men.

Yorker specialist Mitchell Starc was the waterboy last Test.

And despite losing an unlosable match, Waugh is adamant the Aussie XI will bounce back to retake the lead.

“England are talking themselves up, and fair dinkum, we should have won that Test. I think the Aussies are in at a good price,” Waugh continued.

England had confirmed their team, with fast bowler Craig Overton replacing Chris Woakes. But they altered their batting order after being dismissed for just 67 in their first innings at Headingley, with opener Jason Roy and number four Joe Denly doing the switcheroo.

Waugh likened the interesting move from the Poms to rearranging chairs on the Titanic. “The Poms are shuffling their batting order around, they’re shuffling the deck chairs, but it doesn’t matter,” he said.

Aussie skipper Tim Paine — won the toss and opted to bat on Wednesday night — was also pleased to see the home side experimenting with their top order with a stacked pace battery on deck.

“I’d probably say the bowlers feel like that (England changing their order) is not a bad thing,” Paine said after Roy’s reshuffle.

“They feel like they’ve done a pretty good job against him.

“They are going to try and put him (Roy) in a position they think suits his play better.

“As I said before the Edgbaston Test, we know how skilful a player he is and I think it’s probably a matter of time beforehe finds the right tempo to play Test cricket. When he does he’s going to be a force to be reckoned with.”

Regarding his own batting order, Australia’s captain was happy to avoid a major reshuffle in the high-stakes clash.

“Where our guys bat is where they bat. ... the more consistent you can be, the better,” Paine said.

PAINE BITES BACK AT JOFRA

This is turning into a juicy little rivalry.

Skipper Tim Paine hit back at Jorfra Archer’s claims that Australia was panicked and complacent in the latter stages of their gut-wrenching one-wicket defeat at Headingley.

Archer, who has emerged as a crucial weapon in England’s arsenal this series, took aim at the tourists after their historic defeat.

“We got over the line. It doesn’t matter how we got there. The point was we did,” Archer said via The Sun last week.

“You should never get complacent — though to be fair, 350 runs is a lot. The crowd started getting on their backs and I think they panicked a bit.”

Paine shot back at Archer ahead of Old Trafford, saying the mouthy Pom has had “plenty” of opinions of late.

“Jofra is entitled to his opinion, he has had plenty of those for sure,” Paine said.

“I was told a few things when I was down in Derby — I haven’t actually seen the quotes — but talk is talk and we are here to play this Test Match. “What’s happened in the past has happened and Jofra is entitled to his opinion. As I said, it doesn’t faze us one way or another.

“We made some mistakes, it happens. We’ve addressed it as a team, spoken about it honestly ... we’ve moved on and are ready for another great Test match.”