Batsmen offer England hope

Australia did everything but go up 1-0 in the series in Cardiff, but the disappointment of that result would have been mitigated by the knowledge that the venue for the second Test is easily their favourite ground in England. Australia have a 15-5 win-loss record at Lord's and 14 of those wins have come against England (one was against South Africa in the Triangular Tournament in 1912). Since 1985, they've won five out of six Tests, with the only draw, in 1997, being affected by the weather after England had been bundled out for 77 in their first innings. England haven't beaten them since 1934, but their recent record at Lord's is much better - nine wins and three losses, though two of those defeats have come against Australia.

England haven't had much to celebrate when they've played Australia here, but their batsmen have excellent records here. Ravi Bopara got a century in his first Test at this ground, against West Indies earlier this season, but others have got runs here over a longer period of time.

The other impressive aspect about their batting at this ground has been the ability to notch up hundreds - there have been 17 of them scored by the players in England's squad, with Kevin Pietersen leading the way with four in eight Tests. The conversion rate is excellent too, with only 15 half-centuries by these batsmen. Andrew Strauss needs only 11 to complete 1000 runs at Lord's while Pietersen needs 198.

England's partnership stats are the reflection of the batting dominance too, with the average partnerships for the top five wickets all exceeding 40. The fourth wicket has been especially prolific, with ten century stands in 30 innings. The openers have done well too, averaging almost 58 per partnership.

England's bowlers, though, haven't had as much success, with only James Anderson averaging less than 30 (among those who've played more than one Test). Steve Harmison has taken 31 wickets in eight Tests here, but only managed 1 for 138 in his last Test here, against West Indies in 2007. Andrew Flintoff's stats are more disappointing, with 25 wickets in nine Tests.

Monty Panesar, who had a disappointing game in Cardiff, has only had modest success at Lord's, taking 18 wickets in six Tests at almost 40 apiece.

Overall, spinners haven't had a great time here since 2000, averaging nearly 42 runs per wicket. Apart from Panesar, only Ashley Giles and Daniel Vettori have taken five-fors here. Fast bowlers have done much better, with an average of 33.87 and 17 five-wicket hauls.

Among the Australians in the squad who are in contention to play, only Ricky Ponting has played more than one Test here, he has managed only 69 runs, at an average of 17.25. He will need to do better if he has to get the 65 runs he needs to become Australia's highest run-getter, surpassing Allan Border's record of 11,174 runs. Michael Clarke and Justin Langer did better, getting a half-century each in the 2005 Test, which Australia won by 239 runs.