Australia draw inspiration from Lord's record

By John Mehaffey

LONDON (Reuters) - Australia will draw inspiration from their performance in the first Ashes test against England and their outstanding overall record at Lord's for the second test starting on Thursday (11 a.m.).

Only an heroic last wicket stand between James Anderson and Monty Panesar in Cardiff denied Australia victory in a game in which they were the superior team in all departments of the game.

They have also not lost a test against England at Lord's since 1934 when Yorkshire left-arm spinner Hedley Verity dismissed Don Bradman cheaply in both innings in a match haul of 15 wickets.

"There is a great feel around the place, and all the history, and the very proud record that Australia have had here for so long makes you feel good about the place when you arrive," Australia captain Ricky Ponting told reporters on Tuesday.

"Already the guys were talking about our record here in the team meeting and how much everyone has been looking forward to playing here, and what it means to a lot of our younger guys in particular to play here."

Australia will take particular encouragement from the form of their Ashes debutants Marcus North, Nathan Hauritz, Ben Hilfenhaus and Peter Siddle in Cardiff.

North scored his second century in three tests, off-spinner Hauritz outbowled England's Graeme Swann and Panesar and pacemen Hilfenhaus and Siddle more than compensated for Mitchell Johnson's indifferent form.

HARMISON RECALL