Could 1997 become Gough’s Match or Croft’s or will the Australian batsmen rise to the occasion once

Could 1997 become Gough’s Match, or Croft’s, or will the Australian batsmen rise to the occasion once again? As to why England do not go into the game bedevilled by fears of a Lord’s jinx, no satisfactory answer can be found; but if Australia win again, perhaps we’ll all be twitching when 2001 comes around.. But even that does not beat the effort of 1930.Replying to England’s 425, of which Duleepsinhji made an attractive 173, Australia amassed 729 for 6 declared, their highest total in England and the highest ever made at Lord’s. Bradman made 254, reportedly a faultless innings which he has since described as his best.England, with Hobbs, Woolley and Hammond in the side, responded with 375 in their second innings but it was not enough and they lost by seven wickets – all within the space of four days.Bradman returned to Lord’s to make an unbeaten century in 1938, when Hammond made 240, and 10 years later, two months short of his 40th birthday, Bradman made 89 in his last Test appearance there.For England the heroics of Bailey and Watson in 1953 stand out, but alas their stubborn partnership was a match-saving effort rather than a winning one.Starting today, England have one last chance to make amends before the century draws to a close. When England won the Ashes under David Gower in 1985 by three Tests to one, the one they lost was at Lord’s where Allan Border made 196. Most recently, in 1993, David Boon, Mark Taylor and Michael Slater all made centuries and Mark Waugh 99 as Australia rattled up 632 for 4 declared to win by an innings. No one is suggesting England players do not try hard at Lord’s – but it seems the Australians try harder.Since 1896, when Australia lost by six wickets after being bowled out for 53 on the first morning (Surrey’s speed merchant Tom Richardson taking 6 for 39, all bowled), England have only one victory at Lord’s to savour, and even then the weather played its part.In 1934, a year after the infamous “Bodyline” tour, the Australians, Bradman and all, lost 18 wickets in a day after heavy overnight rain had produced the proverbial sticky wicket.

Yorkshire’s Headley Verity made the most of it with his slow left-arm to finish with 15 wickets in what became known thereafter as Verity’s Match, a win for England by an innings and 38 runs.Neville Cardus, in his report for the Manchester Guardian, wrote: “Verity’s flight and length were exactly right, visible temptation. And his break and rise from the ground were exactly right, too, visible betrayal. He bowled not more than three loose balls while the Australians first innings died the death; his run to the wicket, so loose and effortless, was feline in its suggestion of silkiness hiding the claws.” Phil Tufnell, it seems, may not have been the first England slow left-arm bowler to be called “The Cat”.That was it as far as England were concerned. Australians, of course, have enjoyed many a famous hour there at England’s expense, none more so than Bob Massie in 1972, who took 16 wickets on his Test debut. Most play there once or twice every season, the Middlesex players all season long.

Also it would be understandable if Graham Thorpe, for example, took more pleasure from making a hundred at The Oval, his home ground, or Darren Gough from taking 10 wickets at Headingley. Ask any Australian, if they had to choose just one place to make a century or take a hatful of wickets on this tour, it would be Lord’s.
For the England players, perhaps, the experience is not so special. Maclagan is now the only survivor in the event from 10 British players.Tony Pickard, the former British Davis Cup captain, helped spur 19-year- old Amanda Janes to victory in the opening round of the women’s singles.Janes, the tall, agile daughter of the former Wimbledon finalist Christine Truman, overcame Lilia Osterloh of the United States 6-2, 6-2, needing five match points in the eighth game of the second set as her concentration began to waver.It was an encouraging win for Janes, ranked 466 in the world against a stylish but often erratic opponent ranked 284 places above her.Pickard, who had travelled down from his Nottinghamshire home, revealed afterwards that he had been asked by Janes’ mother to advise her daughter. “At this stage I like what I see,” he said.Janes’ win was one of three for British players in the women’s event and followed victories for Louise Latimer, the reigning junior champion, and Karen Cross..

The freakish fact that England have won only one Ashes Test at Lord’s this century prompts at least two questions The first is why. The second is why England are not quadrennially in fear of failure at Lord’s any more than any other venue. At the most famous ground in the world Australia usually win, and almost never lose, and it is probably because it is Lord’s, the home of cricket, that their record is so good. The Australian eventually wrapped up a hard-earned 4-6, 6-2, 11-9 victory after a marathon contest which had kept the crowd enthralled for two hours and 20 minutes.
Miles Maclagan, last season’s British No 5, played one of his best matches when he defeated the French seed Frederic Fontang 7-6, 6-2. Pat Cash, the 1987 Wimbledon champion, used all his grass-court experience to pull himself back from the brink of defeat at the qualifying event at Roehampton yesterday. Cash, who was 32 last month, beat the American Steve Campbell but was in trouble when he trailed 3-5 in the final set.