"It was interesting to see who made the comments," Ponting said. On 11 occasions the left-handers have gone on to post totals in excess of 150. Ponting and Damien Martyn are vulnerable early on against a hard, bouncy new ball but when it gets old and soft they are ruthless.The biggest contrast between the two teams is age. If Vaughan's troops find themselves in the field, they need to strike with the new ball.Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer have scored 41 Test centuries between them, and when they reach three figures they do not throw their wicket away. Should the current wave of hot weather continue the captain who wins the toss will bat, and if England do this they need to bat for the best part of two days.
"Duncan Fletcher was the only one of us alive when England last beat Australia here," he said jokingly Fletcher in fact is only 56 "So what has it got to do with my team History. If you look too far back or too far forward you miss the crucial moment, and that is the game which is about to start."This match offers England their best chance of beating the tourists while the series is alive. The form of the Australians improved during the one-day series, and it should only get better during the coming weeks But they are yet to reach their best. Consistency has allowed Australia to dominate the game for more than a decade, but their cricket in the last month does not yet have that familiar relentless quality.If England are to challenge they need to hit the visitors hard early.
Now, finally, we can get out there and play."England's current form at Lord's is excellent - they have won five of their last six games here - but history suggests Ricky Ponting's side will leave London next week with a 1-0 lead in the five Test series. Australia have defeated England here on four of their last five visits, and it is 71 years since they lost a Test match at the home of cricket.The statistic is of no concern to Vaughan. To change this now, on the eve of a contest against one of the greatest teams ever to grace this wonderful game, would be complete folly."We have done all our preparations and they have gone well," Vaughan said "Everybody is fresh and excited. They will have good days, and there will be times when we feel stressed out, but we will have good days as well. But you have still got to enjoy the big occasion, enjoy playing at Lord's in front of a capacity crowd."Both teams have been looking forward to this game for a long time. In the last year, after every game of cricket, there has always been a question about Australia and the Ashes.
