London: The old-school English view will be that you cannot give young kids a debut at the MCG on Boxing Day in front of 90,000 fans.

Some will say it would be too much to expect from Mason Crane or Tom Curran.

But England are 3-0 down. What do they have to lose? What a place to make your Test debut. If you can perform in front of a massive audience at the MCG then you can do it anywhere.

You have to look at the bigger picture. England’s attack has not been working. They took nine wickets in Perth, 10 in Brisbane, and 18 in Adelaide only because Steve Smith decided to bat again.

This is a perfect opportunity to play cricketers who will be around in four years’ time. Some will say it is stupid to think that far ahead. But I am one of those who likes to plan for the future, so why not give a kid a chance? Especially Crane, because Moeen Ali is having absolutely no effect as a spinner.

I did not think Crane was ready last summer, and I doubt if he is now, but the selectors have chosen him for an Ashes tour, so, with the team 3-0 down, they may as well take the next step. You do not know how young players will react to Test cricket but, what you have, are two kids desperate to be playing. I would rather that than a team full of older hands who have been heavily beaten for three Tests and might be looking forward to going home.

If Crane and Curran were to do well in Melbourne or Sydney, and even if the team lose 5-0, the emergence of some new faces would at least be a positive to take from the tour. Add in performances from Craig Overton, James Vince and Dawid Malan and England have at least found some cricketers for the future from the wreckage of an Ashes hammering.

Sometimes, dropping a senior pro can be a serious moment for a team. It sends a message and the atmosphere can change. Its puts people back on their toes. All of a sudden, they are not sure of their place in the team. I like consistency of selection but in Test cricket you need that fear of being dropped. Once that goes, the environment becomes comfortable and performances start to plateau.

I suspect Overton will not be fit, which gives the chance to play Curran. I doubt if they will drop Stuart Broad but I look at him and ask, will he be here in four years’ time? Probably not. It would ruffle feathers if he was left out. The other option is bringing Crane in for Moeen. It would lengthen the tail but it is not as if Moeen has been performing with the bat.

In these conditions, finger spin rarely works unless you give the ball lots of revs. Graeme Swann was outstanding in 2010 but the team were making massive scores.

The make-up of the England side at home in future could be to have Crane with Moeen as the second spinner. He clearly has an issue being the No 1 spinner, which is why Liam Dawson played last summer. If that is the case then Moeen has to make himself into a top-six batter. He was given the chance here and did not take it. He has to score consistent runs. He is a wonderful talent, but we saw in India last year and Australia that he has been disappointing as a bowler on the road. He cannot just be a home bird. Look at Nathan Lyon four years ago. He is a different bowler now. Mo can get better if he is prepared to work at it.

When England spinners used to be compared to Shane Warne, it was unreasonable. He was the game’s greatest player. But it is reasonable to compare Moeen to Lyon. Mo’s best ball is a good ball, he just does not bowl it enough.

In the second innings in Perth, Vince showed the right mindset. He has to bottle that up. If necessary, write down the thoughts he had before his innings, during his innings and before the ball was bowled. That is his model for the future. He defended well, left good balls and played lovely shots. It took a really good ball to dismiss him. If he can keep playing that way then a big score is close.

Malan and Vince were positive in Perth. All our batsmen are better when they are looking to score, including Alastair Cook. When Cook is looking at staying on the crease and defending, he struggles. He, too, has to try to be attacking.

If Mitchell Starc is not fit then that will massively help England. Starc has so many variations, yorkers, bouncers and reverse swing from around and over the wicket, so he can always surprise a batsman, even after a long period at the crease. Jackson Bird is a good replacement but might be rusty having played little cricket recently. It also means Australia will have four right-arm-over bowlers. It is much easier for a batsman to play himself in against the same type of bowlers. This is a chance for England.