Lord's pitch report

Dave Tickner looks ahead to the second Ashes Test, and gives you the lowdown on the Home of Cricket.

Dave Tickner looks ahead to the second Ashes Test, and gives you the lowdown on the Home of Cricket

As the home of English cricket - indeed world cricket - it has been suggested that Lord's inspires the opposition more than it does the hosts. It's a theory that certainly holds water when it comes to the Australians: England haven't beaten the old enemy at HQ since before the Second World War and have only one win since the reign of Queen Victoria. In recent years it has become something of a batting paradise - despite the infamous slope - and has produced a fair number of draws. Indeed, six Tests in a row here were drawn between Australia's 2005 victory and England's three-day defeat of West Indies earlier this summer. However, the pitch is playing rather quicker this year by all accounts and offering assistance for everyone rather than just fancy-dan batsman looking to get their name on the dangerously overcrowded Lord's honours board. Despite the MCC's reputation for stuffiness, the ground has been extensively redeveloped to keep it at the forefront of cricketing venues, and many of the additions - notably the futuristic Media Centre at the Nursery End - are strikingly modern without diminishing the famous venue's historical power.

Last time out

England beat West Indies by 10 wickets to end a run of six straight draws at HQ against an out-of-sorts and apparently uninterested Windies outfit. Ravi Bopara's 143 and Graeme Swann's entertaining 63 not out took England to 377 all out after a mid-innings wobble. It almost proved enough to claim an innings victory. Graham Onions, on debut, picked up five wickets as West Indies were shot out for 152 in little more than 32 overs. Brendan Nash (81) and Denesh Ramdin (61) showed some fight as the West Indies were forced to follow on, but Graeme Swann took three wickets - giving him six for the match to go with his batting cameo - and West Indies' 256 all out left England chasing just 32 for victory. Openers Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook knocked off the runs in six overs as England claimed a comprehensive victory inside three days.

Australia's last visit

Australia beat England by 239 runs as the 2005 series got off to a rollicking start. Australia won the toss and chose to bat, and were quickly aware they were in for a fight this time around. Steve Harmison first bruised the Aussies and then dismissed them. He hit Langer on the arm, cut Ricky Ponting's cheek and finished with five for 43 as Australia were all out for 190 before tea. That was as good as it got for England. Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee and Shane Warne set to work, with only skunk-haired debutant Kevin Pietersen offering any resistance. He made a thrilling 57 but McGrath took five wickets, Lee three and Warne two as England were bundled out for a paltry 155. Australia would not make the same mistakes again, Michael Clarke's 91 guiding them to a second-innings 384 all out. Andrew Strauss and Marcus Trescothick added 80 for the first wicket as England set off in pursuit of 420 for victory, but when Strauss fell to a sensational caught and bowled from Lee, the familiar collapse was on. McGrath and Warne took another four wickets each as all 10 wickets fell for exactly 100 runs despite an even more exhilarating Pietersen effort. This time he smashed 64 not out as wickets tumbled around him. A convincing victory for Australia, as is customary at Lord's, but England had shown signs that they had some fight in them - at least with the ball.

They said...

"I felt as much pressure in that first session as when I played my first Test against one of the great West Indian attacks. I felt there was a similar degree of pressure being put on us by Harmison and Flintoff in that first session on Thursday."
A battered and bruised Justin Langer in 2005. "I don't think the pitch is as bad as 17 wickets describes. The team's pretty disappointed with the way the second half of the day went."
Steve Harmison reflects on a topsy-turvy opening day to the 2005 Ashes. "It'll be a story for the after-dinner circuit, how I turned up on a Lord's greentop in early May and opened the bowling for England."
Graeme Swann after his man-of-the-match performance against West Indies this year. His record against Windies opener Devon Smith convinced Andrew Strauss to give him the new ball. "We just told him to hit the seam and don't get it scuffed."
Graham Onions reveals the in no way narked advice to Swann from England's quicks.

Happy hunting ground

Apart from the three Lord's debutants who dismantled West Indies earlier this year - Bopara, Swann and Onions - there are plenty of other England players who enjoy playing at HQ. Most are batsmen. Andrew Strauss has three centuries here, an average of 58, and needs just 11 runs to pass 1,000 on this ground. Ian Bell, who could replace Flintoff if his knee injury rules him out, scored a Test-best 199 against South Africa last year and averages 70 from his eight Tests at Lord's, again with three centuries. Kevin Pietersen loves it here. After that scintillating debut performance against Australia, he's rarely failed here. Over 800 runs in eight Tests - with four centuries - and an average of almost 73. It's not such good news for the bowlers, but James Anderson's record here is excellent. He's an all-rounder now, of course, and averages 34 with the bat here and 27.79 (against a career mark of 34.23) with the ball. Two of his six five-wicket hauls have come here. For the Aussies, Michael Clarke made his highest Test score in England here in 2005. Ricky Ponting is the only member of the Australian squad to have played more than one Test here. But his two appearances have brought him only 69 runs at an average of 17.25

Weather forecast

Mixed. The match should start under blue skies and sunshine, but the forecast for days two, three and five isn't great with plenty of rain on the cards...

Conclusion

History - recent and ancient - tells you Australia will win. The Aussies nearly always win the Lord's Test, last missing out in 1997 when three days of rain allowed England to get a draw. But even then McGrath took eight for change to dismiss England for 77. While the West Indies put up only token resistance in May, the evidence was that this was not the Lord's featherbed of recent years. The pitch was quicker and certainly assisted the seamers. Expect something similar here, which should go some way towards redressing the balance between bat and ball. Both sets of bowlers will be relieved to get away from Cardiff, but the most important pre-match consideration is Andrew Flintoff's knee. Despite the brave batting efforts of the tail at Cardiff, England would surely not dare risk naming a side with Broad, Swann and Anderson at seven, eight and nine. If Flintoff is ruled out, then England will have to recall Bell and go in with only four frontline bowlers.