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England target Lord's success

Author: Sir David Smith
Date: 16/07/2009

Just four days after the late drama of the drawn first Ashes Test in Cardiff, England and Australia prepare to do battle at Lord's.

The build-up to the second Test has been dominated by news of Andrew Flintoff's impending retirement but it is still unclear whether the Lancastrian will feature at the home of cricket.

The 31-year-old complained of soreness in his knee after the first Test and England will make a late decision on whether to risk him on Thursday.

Flintoff did not have a great game in south Wales, a charge which can be made for most of the England players, with only Paul Collingwood coming out of the game with any credit.

However, there are unlikely to be many changes to the starting line-up with the most likely alteration being Graham Onions or Steve Harmison coming in for the hapless Monty Pansear.

The Northamptonshire spinner may have been an unlikely hero with the bat on Sunday evening, but his bowling was as abject as it has been for his county all season.

England's backs-to-the-wall display in the final three hours of the first Test may have given them some momentum going into the second encounter, but they must not forget that for most of the opening salvo they were inferior to the Aussies in all respects.

Brett Lee, who will again be absent at Lord's with a rib injury, was not missed as Ben Hilfenhaus and Peter Siddle in particular, impressed with the ball.

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Captain Ricky Ponting's tactics in the final session on Sunday were baffling as he persevered with the obviously struggling Mitchell Johnson, who is the online betting favourite to take the most wickets at Lord's, for far too long.

He then used Marcus North and Nathan Hauritz when surely Hilfenhaus and Siddle would have been the better option.

However, Ponting's indiscretions appear to have been overlooked with the topic of England's ludicrous attempts at time-wasting taking centre stage in the aftermath of the Sophia Gardens stalemate.

A poor weather forecast points to another draw as does history. Australia have only lost to England once at Lord's, in 1934, since 1896 while recent Test matches at the ground have invariably ended in draws.

Whereas the Cardiff pitch was a nightmare for seamers and was meant to take spin, the Lord's pitch is the opposite, adding more fuel to suggestions that Onions will come in for Panesar.

Such was England's lack of bowling guile in Cardiff and poor shot selection when batting that a victory for the hosts at Lord's seems highly unlikely with a draw or Australia victory the much more likely option.

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