England Get close To the Win Against Ausies in Its 2nd Test Of Ashes....

England inched ever closer to a historic victory at Lord's and, as has become de rigueur in this Test, controversy was the order of the day. Phillip Hughes was ordered to stand his ground by Ricky Ponting, the non-striker, after edging an Andrew Flintoff delivery to Andrew Strauss at first slip. Replays were inconclusive as to whether Strauss' fingers were completely between ball and turf, but unlike Nathan Hauritz's claimed catch the previous day, umpires Rudi Koertzen and Billy Doctrove did not refer the matter to Nigel Llong, the third umpire.

Koertzen, after several minutes of consulting with Doctrove, ordered Hughes back to the pavilion, much to the chagrin of Ponting and delight of the Englishmen. The dismissal was Australia's second of the morning, and placed England in a position of total dominance heading to lunch on day four, having earlier declared their second innings closed at 311 for 6 to hold an overall lead of 521.The latest claimed catch controversy could not detract from a virtuoso performance from Flintoff, playing his last ever Test at Lord's. Storming in from the Pavilion End, England's enigmatic allrounder bowled seven overs of pure menace for figures of 2 for 9, accounting for both Australian openers in the process.

Presumably, Flintoff will not be offering conciliatory handshakes and embraces to the Australians in the event of a second Test victory, as was the case at Edgbaston four years, given the ferocity of his encounters with Hughes and Ponting in the first session on Sunday. In the second over of the morning, Flintoff unleashed a ferocious bouncer that barely cleared Hughes' helmet, and followed with an exaggerated verbal barrage delivered while walking backwards to his mark. The chirping also extended to Ponting, somewhat more practiced at the art than Hughes, as tempers frayed in this most pressurised of series.