Jonathan Trott is not the man to fill Flintoff's shoes at Headingley

England go into tomorrow's game at Headingley knowing that a victory would win back the Ashes and they really must stick with five bowlers if they want to do that.

If Jonathan Trott, rather than Ryan Sidebottom or Steve Harmison, was picked instead of Flintoff it would be a very negative move on the part of Andrew Strauss and Andy Flower, and it would give Australia a hell of a lot more confidence.

They will see England picking an extra batsman as a sign they are playing for a draw and that Australia are the only team trying to win the game. That's a huge lift for any side.

I know Flintoff batted very well at Edgbaston but his bowling is the most important thing he brings to the team.

England have to believe their top order can do the business without needing more protection.

If you replace Flintoff with an extra batsman, it means a much heavier workload for the other seam bowlers, Jimmy Anderson, Stuart Broad and Graham Onions.

If Australia bat well - as they did at Cardiff and in the second innings at Edgbaston - it puts England under a lot of pressure and they will need enough bowlers to get through that.

We saw at Edgbaston how much this England attack depends on the swinging ball and if they are to develop into a world-class side, they need to learn how to be dangerous and effective even when the conditions are not helping them.

When the ball wasn't swinging during my career, I made sure I made the most of the bounce I could generate from the wicket but also concentrated on being really, really accurate.

When the ball wasn't doing much, I forgot all about trying to look for wickets or trying to bowl the magic delivery.

I just focused on cutting off the run-scoring opportunities and building pressure through being accurate and bowling maiden after maiden.

If you do that for long enough, there's a good chance that a mistake will come from the batsman.

To make this work, you need bowlers to work in tandem, as I was able to do with Shane Warne.

This is something England need to think hard about as they develop their bowling attack and look ahead to life without Flintoff.

Understandably, everyone in England is talking about whether Freddie will be fit but Australia have injury worries of their own, with vice-captain Michael Clarke struggling with an abdominal strain he picked up while batting in the second innings at Edgbaston.

Clarke is just as important to Australia as Flintoff is to England.

This is still a pretty inexperienced Australian side, so they want to hang on to their senior players and the way 'Pup' has been batting has been fantastic.

His role as vice-captain is just as important. He has that experience that Ricky Ponting can draw on and he is a very vocal, confident character on the field.

He has plenty of energy, he is always thinking about where the game is heading and he has a lot of good ideas on the field.

It's crucial for Australia that he pulls through and we have to keep our fingers crossed that he does.

If he does play, Clarke - like the rest of the Australian side - can expect a tough time from the crowd at Headingley, as they received at Edgbaston.

A lot was said about the raucous nature of the crowd in Birmingham and I must say I think it's very poor that Ponting has been booed to the wicket in this series.

I genuinely don't think Strauss would receive the same treatment from an Australian audience.

But in general, I always enjoyed getting stick from the crowd - and that is the attitude this current Australian side must take.

If they are copping it from the home fans, they should try to have a bit of fun and give a bit back.

If you are aggressive towards them, or just ignore them, the chances are that the abuse will get worse, and it can be a long day - as my old team-mate Jason Gillespie discovered on previous Ashes tours.

It wasn't only in the stands at Edgbaston where things got quite heated.

We had Mitchell Johnson clashing with Broad and Graeme Swann, and Anderson also giving a bit of lip to Simon Katich and Shane Watson.

It's something I expect to continue throughout the series and it's a good sign for England fans that their players are prepared to take on the Australians in that fashion.

It's all part of international sport and part of why Test cricket is so tough.

If you suffer in an environment where people are having a go at you, there is a good chance you will fail to make the grade at that level.

Former England players always spoke about how bad the Australians were for sledging but people like Nasser Hussain certainly knew how to hold their own.

On a final note, it was good to hear about wicketkeeper Brad Haddin catching balls again at Headingley after fracturing his finger before the start of the Edgbaston Test.

After my mishap there four years ago, when I trod on a practice ball to put me out of the Test, I think Australian warm-ups in Birmingham should be kept to a minimum from now on!