We've given it our best short

Jonny defiant as he finishes one shy of a century

- MIKE WALTERS

JONNY BAIRSTOW shrugged off the heartbreak of being stranded on 99 not out and insisted England “could not have done much more” to rescue the Ashes at Old Trafford.

The king of Bazball became only the third Englishman, behind Sir Geoffrey Boycott and Alex Tudor, to be left unbeaten one short of a Test century as the Aussies were left praying for rain to escape with a draw and retain the urn.

At the close in the fourth LV Insurance Test, they were 113-4 still 162 short of making England bat again - but the weekend forecast is for persistent rain and Bairstow shrugged: "The weather is the weather and I'm not Michael Fish."

After his brilliant catch to dismiss Mitchell Marsh on Wednesday, Bairstow's sparkling 81-ball knock peppered with four sixes-propelled England to 592 all out.