England name unchanged squad England regain respect - Hussain

"To be an all-rounder you must be good enough to hold your place in either department - number six batsman or top three bowler," Botham told Five Live.

"Freddie does that, and he's also a bloody good slip fielder.

"He's got lots of character, a lot of bottle and the whole side hinges on him at the moment. He could well go on to be one of the greats."

They know now they can beat the Australians, if they had any doubt before Ian Botham

Botham, hailed as England's best-ever all-rounder, insisted the side under Michael Vaughan, and nurtured by his predecessor Nasser Hussain, had made huge strides in the last few years.

"We've got the backbone of a very strong side now, with Freddie in the middle - we haven't really had an all-rounder since Alec Stewart," he said.

"We've got [Kevin] Pietersen emerging and we've got Steve Harmison coming back to being - available to play at the moment - the best opening seam bowler in the world.

"We're really firing up at the right time and that is why the boys will be itching to get another go at the Aussies.

Harmison is almost back to his best, according to Botham

"They know now they can beat the Australians, if they had any doubt before."

Botham reckons he was always confident of England's victory on Sunday, saying the pressure was greater on the Australian tail-enders.

"All along I didn't think we were going to lose," he said.

"I thought the closer it got and the tighter it got, the harder it becomes for numbers 10 and 11 because they aren't used to that.

"It was a lot closer than we all anticipated, and all probably wanted, but it will go down as one of the great matches of all time."

What we must make sure is that we don't serve up a raging turner at Old Trafford Ian Botham

But Botham warned that England must not squander the initiative, and urged the Old Trafford groundstaff to rally to the cause.

"I said right from the start I didn't believe there would be a drawn match in this series and I have no reason to change my mind," he said.

"These sides go at 100 miles per hour at each other. It's compelling viewing and there will be results in every single Test, unless it rains for two days.

"It's going to be enormously tough but enormously fascinating.

"But what we must make sure is that we don't serve up a raging turner at Old Trafford, and say to MacGill and Warne and the boys, 'here you are lads, have a bit of this'.

"We've got to make sure we have a pitch with pace and bounce.

"Peter Marron is one of the best groundsmen in the country and I'm sure that's exactly what he'll serve up. That will give our boys a massive boost."