Tim Paine urges Australia to ignore the hysteria around Headingley defeat after cruel Ashes near-miss

NICK HOWSON AT HEADINGLEY: Missed run-out, dropped catches and misused reviews cannot be focused on with two Tests remaining

Emotion. Naturally, in the aftermath of one of the most dramatic finales to the Test match in recent memory, Tim Paine's reaction to having the Ashes ripped from his grasp was full of it.

Australia were home and dry. A first series win in England was firmly on the horizon. The hosts were wilting badly, with their captain under pressure and their public disillusioned. And that was just day two.

It all turned around during an extraordinary afternoon at Headingley. Where have we heard that one before? And once again, like 1981 and Edgbaston in 2005, Australia were on the receiving end of a body blow.

That it could have been so different only supplemented the glory for England, and the feeling of despondency for the tourists. Marcus Harris' dropped catch of centurion Ben Stokes, the countless near-misses, Nathan Lyon's butchered run-out and Paine's own miss-use of the Decision Review System.

Paine is confident that in a similar position again Australia would not baulk. But that is exactly the point, even with two Tests to play there is no guarantee they will find themselves so close to victory again.

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"Instead of getting caught up in the emotion of it we just need to talk about what went wrong and turn up to Manchester full of confidence because we have been in a position to win every Test match," he said. "That is a great position to be in. This is about making sure that while these losses hurt you can't get caught up in it when it is in the middle of the serious. 

"We don't talk about emotion. You need to talk about the facts. Instead of worrying about a missed run-out or a dropped catch let's put our energy into what we're doing well. If you let things drag on and get caught up in the crowd or the emotion that is just wasted energy. We're here to play on skill not emotion."

Whether Australia will treat considering how close they came to retaining the urn in Leeds as a cathartic process remains to be seen and heard. Paine certainly won't allow his team to focus too keenly on the finer details of the context, that much is sure.

What the Baggy Green may want to reflect upon however is how their overall performance fell apart in the closing stages. England went from underdogs to front-runners as much due to Australia cutting a desperate team struggling for answers, when previously they had been asking the questions, as Ben Stokes' unbeaten 135.

"I wouldn't say we were rattled," the wicket-keeper captain insisted. "No doubt there was pressure but that is Test cricket. It was close and it was tight and the crowd was loud. That was as hard as it gets for a touring side. 

^{Mistakes in the field contributed to Australia's downfall}

"Sometimes people make mistakes and we made some today and in the end it cost us a Test match. That and an unbelievable innings. That can happen. We have to make sure we stick together and bounce back."

Adamant his side are playing good enough cricket to have deserved to have won all three Tests, Australia move to Manchester knowing they have to do the same again at least once to ensure they keep hold of the urn.

Whether Paine's assessment is actually true could be debated. Victory at Edgbaston was delivered by a Steve Smith masterclass but at Lord's it was England hunting to level the series.

"If we get caught up in the emotions it all and the series can be taken away from us," he added. "We have been in a position to win every test match so far. We're doing something right and we must keep believing in that.

"We're not going to be sulking about it for long. Those losses hurt but the beauty of the Ashes is this is a series. Mistakes happen."