The Ashes is living up to the hype as was showcased by England’s thrilling one-wicket victory over the Aussies in the third Test at Headingly -- a victory which brought them level 1-1 in the series.

The tourists were on the brink of clinching the series but Ben Stokes decided to run amok and under intense pressure situation, got the hosts back to the series. With the series titillating back and forth, Australia have decided to call up former World Cup winning captain Steve Waugh to mentor the side.

Waugh was originally scheduled to join the side for the first two Tests but commitments back home delayed him. After a defeat which can easily damage morale, coach Justin Langer was happy to get the former captain’s services.

"He was supposed to come until the end of the second Test but he enjoyed it so much and we saw such great value in having him here," coach Justin Langer was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.

"Guys like Punter [Ricky Ponting] and Steve Waugh, not only do they have a great presence in the group, but they are great psychologists. They've been in the cauldron before, they've seen it all, so to have that those type of guys, we are talking about developing leadership in Australian cricket, to have our guys to learn from people of that calibre is very important short term,” continued.

According to Langer, Waugh has already started to have his effect with the Australia side as was evidenced by their ruthless approach in a tour match against Derbyshire following the third Test.

"Steve Waugh's talked about, we've talked about the great Australian teams have been pretty ruthless in winning games of cricket," Langer said. "Before the toss, we said, 'it's not a practice game, it's not a centre wicket hit out, we're going to play a proper game of cricket; we're going to try and win the game no matter what'. They won the toss and batted, usually it's a bigger challenge to do that (win) in a three-day game. The way our guys won the game in two-and-a-bit days was that's a guide to me they're up.