Watch: Top 5 England Lord’s innings to cheer up the barmy army
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Australian wickets finally started falling during day two of the second Ashes Test at Lord’s, but after Chris Rogers and Steve Smith managed a record 284 partnership for the visitors at this ground, the damage already looks done.
To keep the Barmy Army in high spirits, we’ve dug up the hosts’ five greatest batting performances at the home of cricket.
- 5. Jack Hobbs’ 211 v South Africa, June/July 1924
The man known as simply ‘The Master’ became the first Lord’s double centurion in Test cricket, 12 years on from his first 100-plus knock for England at the St John’s Wood venue.
Two of Hobbs’ three century-plus innings came at the expense of the Aussies, and the Cambridge-born opener picked up Wisden’s Cricketer of the Year prize twice during his career, with the second award coming a whopping 17 years after the first in 1926.
- 4. Robert Key’s 221 v West Indies, July 2004
The Kent right-hander’s finest hour came just after his recall to the England side following an injury to Mark Butcher, and Key followed up his cracking first-Test tally with 93 a few weeks later, although that form wasn’t enough to nail down a place in Michael Vaughan’s XI.
Key stayed at the crease for 426 minutes and hit an impressive 31 fours, yet no sixes on the way to his monster score.
- 3. Jonathan Trott’s 226 v Bangladesh, May 2010
Having only been added to the England setup 12 months earlier ahead of the Ashes, the South African-born six-footer hit his second Test century, and first double, after putting 103 on the board against the Aussies on debut.
Unsurprisingly from metronomic run-builder Trott, there were no sixes in the knock and a moderate 20 fours.
- 2. Wally Hammond’s 240 v Australia, June 1938
The then-captain set a new home record with this magnificent innings against Don Bradman’s visitors, although Len Hutton’s 364 at the Oval, which still stands as the high watermark for England, came a couple of months later.
- 1. Graham Gooch’s 333 v India, July 1990
The former captain and current batting coach enjoyed a golden summer during his second spell as skipper, with a world record 456 runs smashed against the sub-continental tourists at Lord’s, which still stands to this day.
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