England's HQ headaches

Lord's: Not a happy hunting ground for England

England face Zimbabwe in the first Test at Lord's on Thursday hoping to improve a less than distinguished record at the home of cricket.

Recent years have seen foreign stars appearing at "Headquarters" and being inspired into match-winning performances.

Steve Waugh, Terry Alderman, David Boon and Glenn McGrath won games for the Australians since 1989.

Lord's record since 1989

15 Tests

Three wins

Five draws

Seven defeats

Waqar Younis, Chris Cairns, Allan Donald and Mushtaq Ahmed have all produced similar efforts for other countries.

Only three times - and not since 1995 - have England come out on top, while their record of seven defeats would probably be worse were it not for the London weather.

1989 v Australia - Lost by 6 wickets

Steve Waugh:152 not out

Merv Hughes took four for 71 as England were all out for 286 and the tourists then amassed 528 with Steve Waugh making a magnificent unbeaten 152.

David Gower scored 106 in England's second innings, supported by 96 from Robin Smith, but six for 128 by Terry Alderman helped dismiss them for 359 and Australia made 119 for four to win the game.

1990 v New Zealand - Match drawn

Richard Hadlee made his first Test appearance since being knighted and took three wickets in England's first innings 334 after weather interruptions had disrupted the opening day.

Trevor Franklin made a dogged 101 as the Kiwis reached 462 for nine declared, but Alan Lamb weighed in with 84 not out in reply and the match ended when England declared on 272 for four.

1990 v India - Won by 247 runs

Graham Gooch on his way to 333

Graham Gooch was the man of the moment as England comprehensively outplayed the tourists, scoring 333 in a first innings total of 653 for four, which also included centuries for Alan Lamb (139) and Robin Smith (100).

Ravi Shastri and Mohammed Azharuddin made hundreds as India totalled 454 in reply, but Gooch added another 123 in England's second innings 272 for four declared and the tourists were then dismissed for 224.

1991 v West Indies - Match drawn

Bad weather prevented any play on the final two days of a match which was evenly poised with West Indies 12 for two in their second innings.

Carl Hooper's 111 was the cornerstone of a first innings total of 419 by the tourists, with Derek Pringle taking five for 100, and Robin Smith batted superbly for 148 not out in England's 354 all out.

1991 v Sri Lanka - Won by 137 runs

Graham Gooch's second innings 174 turned the game decisively in England's favour in a one-off Test after Alec Stewart had made 113 not out in a disappointing first innings total of 282.

Phil DeFreitas took seven for 70 to give England a lead of 58 and Gooch's brilliance enabled them to declared the second innings on 364 for three. Set 423 to win, Sri Lanka were dismissed for 285 with spinner Phil Tufnell returning figures of five for 94.

1992 v Pakistan - Lost by 2 wickets

The pace of Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram proved England's undoing an an exciting second Test. The home side were all out for 255 despite an opening stand of 123 between Gooch and Stewart, with Waqar taking 5-91.

Pakistan replied with 293 but Wasim's 4-66 then helped skittle England for 175, despite Stewart carrying his bat for 69 not out. The tourists were in trouble at 68-6 but Wasim made an unbeaten 45 to see them home on 141-8.

1993 v Australia - Lost by an innings and 62 runs

England's bowlers toiled into the third day as Australia piled up 632 for four declared, with hundreds for Mark Taylor (111), Michael Slater (152) and David Boon (164 not out).

Shane Warne and Merv Hughes took four wickets each as England were all out for 205 and Mike Atherton had the disappointment of being run out for 99 in their second innings total of 365.

1994 v New Zealand - Match drawn

Match figures of 11 for 169 by Dion Nash gave the tourists the upper hand but Alec Stewart's second innings 119 helped England hang on for a draw.

Dion Nash: Eleven wickets

Martin Crowe's 142 in a total of 476 resulted in a first innings lead of 195 for New Zealand, who then added 211 for five declared, but the home side survived to reach 254 for eight when the match ended.

1994 v South Africa - Lost by 356 runs

Dismal batting by England saw them dismissed for 180 in their first innings and just 99 in the second after being set 456 to win.

South African skipper Kepler Wessels scored 105 in a total of 357 and they followed that with 278 for eight declared. Their seam attack all bowled well with Allan Donald taking five for 74 in England's first innings.

1995 v West Indies - Won by 72 runs

Dominic Cork bowled England to victory his first Test appearance with figures of seven for 43 on the final day after they had trailed by 41 on first innings.

England were all out for 283 but five for 66 by Angus Fraser resticted the tourists' lead and an innings of 90 by Robin Smith helped England total 336 in their second innings. West Indies were set 296 to win, but Cork's superb bowling saw them fall short of their target.

1996 v India - Match drawn

Batsmen dominated the match with wicket-keeper Jack Russell scoring 124 in England's first innings 344.

Saurav Ganguly also reached three figures (131) as India replied with 429 and the match was called off as a draw when England declared their second innings on 278 for nine.

1996 v Pakistan - Lost by 164 runs

Inzamam-ul-Haq: 148

Pakistan recorded their second successive Test win at Lord's after Inzamam-ul-Haq hammered 148 in their first innings total of 340. England made 285 in reply with four wickets each for Waqar Younis and Ata-ur-Rehman.

The tourists declared their second innings on 352-5 and Mushtaq Ahmed (five for 57) and Waqar then ran through England, who were all out for 243 despite Alec Stewart's 89.

1997 v Australia - Match drawn

England somehow survived despite a first innings total of 77 - their lowest at Lord's since 1888 and their worst against Australia since 1948. Fast bowler Glenn McGrath took a career-best eight for 48.

Matthew Elliott's 112 for Australia helped them declare on 213 for seven, but England escaped thanks to the rain and a rearguard action in the second innings from their opening batsmen.

1998 v South Africa - Lost by 10 wickets

Allan Donald celebrates one of his five wickets

Jonty Rhodes (117) helped the tourists to a first innings total of 360 before England crumbled to 110 all out, with Allan Donald taking five wickets.

Following on, the home side reached 260, with 105 from Nasser Hussain, but the lead of 14 was hardly enough to prevent a heavy defeat..

1999 v New Zealand - Lost by nine wickets

A familiar first innings batting collapse from England saw them post just 186 with six wickets for Chris Cairns before the underrated tourists made 358, including 100 for Matthew Horne.

As in the previous year England were on the back foot, and although they set a slightly more demanding target of 58, the Kiwis got home for the loss of only one wicket.