England's Courageous Attacking Strategy Put to the Ultimate Test

England will face a critical challenge to their bold and aggressive playing style that has transformed the national cricket team in the past year when the fourth Ashes test resumes at Old Trafford on Thursday.

After England captain Ben Stokes chose to have Australia bat first, the visitors reached 299 for eight by the end of the opening day. The hosts need victories in Manchester and again in London next week after narrowly losing the first two tests.

Both history and a gloomy weather forecast pose obstacles to Stokes's side in their pursuit of a historic series victory. Only Australia in 1936-7 managed to recover from a 2-0 deficit when Don Bradman scored 270, 212, and 169 in consecutive tests. Additionally, rain is predicted in Manchester during the final two days of the weekend.

Despite the conditions and forecast, Stokes was determined to insert the Australians into bat when he won the toss for the fourth consecutive time. However, only 10 captains out of the previous 83 tests held in Manchester have chosen to field first, and none have been rewarded with victory.

During the morning session, England successfully captured the wickets of both openers Usman Khawaja (3) and David Warner (32), and their pursuit gained momentum in the afternoon with Stokes strategically rotating his bowlers and adjusting his field placings.

While Steve Smith (41) and Travis Head (48) made useful starts, only Mitchell Marsh (51), Australia's hero with his century in the third test at Headingley, and Marnus Labuschagne (51) managed to reach a half-century.

Stuart Broad, England's pace bowler, celebrated his 600th test wicket on Wednesday when he dismissed Head in the final session with a mishit hook shot. He expressed delight in the team's performance in taking eight wickets on a pitch that did not intimidate the batsmen.

"Of all the pitches we've played on in this series, it feels like the most balls were well-hit today," he said. "It felt like if you just missed, you went to the boundary. But ultimately there are wicket balls out there as well. When we won the toss, we weren't hoping for 160 all out, we were just hoping for a decent chase. We are going to try to push the game forward from the start of play tomorrow."