Australia were unbeaten at Lord’s from 1938 to 2005 but have lost their last two Tests here, while England’s Lord’s numbers have improved significantly

S Rajesh15-Jul-2015Until 2009, Lord’s was an Australian fortress. All the way from 1938 to 2005, they played England 18 times in Tests and didn’t lose a single game, winning nine and drawing the others. From 1985 to 2005, they won five out of six Tests there, including one by an innings and 62 runs, and another by 239 runs.Since then, though, Lord’s hasn’t been such a favoured venue for Australia – in 2009 they lost by 115 runs, and in 2013 by 347. In between they won a Test, but that was against Pakistan in 2010.England, meanwhile, have largely enjoyed the Lord’s experience over the last decade and a half. There has been the odd unexpected defeat, like the one against India last year but, overall since 2000, England have been dominant here, winning 17 Tests and losing just five, twice each to Australia and South Africa, and once to India. In the 15 years before that – from 1984 to 1999 – England had a terrible record at Lord’s winning only four and losing 11. It’s true that England’s overall Test record at home has also followed a similar curve – a win-loss record of 21-38 between 1984 and 1999, and 60-21 since 2000 – but it’s even more exaggerated at Lord’s.

Most of the current England batsmen have pretty good numbers at Lord’s. Joe Root, England’s best batsman on current form, have been even more impressive at Lord’s than at other venues: in ten Test innings at Lord’s, he has passed 50 six times, and averages an incredible 85.88. Two of his three highest Test scores have come here, and though he didn’t get a century in the Test against New Zealand earlier this year, he came close in both innings, scoring 98 and 84. He has scored a huge Test hundred in each of the two years that he has played at Lord’s, which augurs well for England going into their last Lord’s Test of the year.While Root failed to get a big hundred here against New Zealand, Alastair Cook redressed a Lord’s record that was falling away quite alarmingly: after averaging 56.47 in his first 18 Test innings here, his average dropped to 19.85 in his next 14 innings. His second-innings 162 against New Zealand, though, suggests Cook might have found his batting mojo again. Ian Bell needs a similar innings now, having scored only 56 runs in his last five Test innings at Lord’s, though his overall average here is still above 50.

Among the current Australian batsmen, Michael Clarke is the only one who has scored runs at Lord’s: in eight innings (including the Test against Pakistan), he averages 47.12, with a highest of 136 in the 2009 Ashes Test. Steven Smith has struggled here: in four innings he has a highest of 12, and an average of 4.Ideal for Anderson and BroadThe bowling stats at Lord’s for Australia’s current squad aren’t much better either: Mitchell Johnson has four wickets in two Tests at an average of 76.25, while Peter Siddle has seven wickets at 40.14. Shane Watson has six wickets at 22.66 (five of them against Pakistan), but it seems he isn’t in Australian plans for this Ashes Test, while Ryan Harris will be missed too – in his only Test at Lord’s, in 2013, he had match figures of 7 for 103. Among the current lot, the bowler with the best stats is Steven Smith: he hasn’t had any success with the bat, but with the ball he has seven wickets at 19.14.England’s two lead bowlers, on the other hand, have been superb here. James Anderson has 75 wickets at 26.21, and Stuart Broad 61 wickets at 28.68. Against Australia, though, Broad has had less success – four wickets at 51.75, in two Tests.

The Lord’s pitch has generally been a good one for batting, but overall it has helped quick bowlers more than spinners. In Tests since 2010, seam and swing has accounted for 334 wickets at 30.32, while spinners have taken only 89 wickets at 39.06. England’s bowlers – both pace and spin – have done much better here than their overseas counterparts during this period, which isn’t surprising given the results they’ve achieved recently.

The bat-first advantageIn 12 Tests at Lord’s since 2010, ten have produced decisive results, of which nine have been won by the team batting first. The only instance of the team fielding first winning was when England beat West Indies in 2012. However, despite this advantage for teams batting first, captains winning the toss have fielded first in nine out of 12 Tests, winning only once and losing six times. In the last two Tests here too, the team winning the toss fielded first, and lost – England versus India last year, and New Zealand versus England earlier this season.