No rest for the wicketless. Roughed up in Cardiff, England's toothless bowlers and wounded batsmen now have to limp on to Lord's, a ground where they have had less success against Australia than the French have had military victories. Never mind the 43 years of hurt in English football or the unceasing nostalgia for Fred Perry at Wimbledon, nothing matches England's Lord's hoodoo in the Ashes.

You will hear a lot this week about it being 75 years since England last beat Australia at the home of cricket in a Test, but it is worse than that. England's victory in 1934 was itself the first win over Australia in St John's Wood for 38 years. Henry Allingham, the world's oldest man at 113, is the only person on the planet to have been alive during two England Ashes wins at Lord's and even he was just a fortnight old when England won the 1896 encounter.

Speaking to The Times recently, David Graveney, the former England chairman of selectors, said that he had been unconcerned when Australia won the first Test of the 2005 series at Lord's because he had not been expecting England to win anyway. “The place seems to inspire Australia more and we never play well there against them, so I was glad to get the Lord's Test out of the way early,” he said. No such luck this time.

Ricky Ponting, the Australia captain, agreed that the Lord's effect helped his team four years ago. “We almost knew we were going to get off to a good start,” he said. “There are places you turn up where players know that Australian teams have had success before and it makes you feel a bit more comfortable.”

Ponting will be hoping that the form he showed in Cardiff continues. “There's all these big boards up around the rooms and you want to get your name on them,” he said. “That's one thing I'll be looking to do because I haven't done very well there. I've made a one-day hundred, but not done so well in Tests.” In four innings there, he has made only 69 runs.

England have lost five of their past six Ashes Tests at Lord's, the exception being in 1997, when the match was drawn. The weather saved Mike Atherton's team: it rained for the whole of the first day and 70 overs of the second, which meant that being skittled for 77 in their first innings did not prove fatal. Yet they have not always been hopeless at headquarters. Between 1964 and 1981 England lost only one of their seven Tests there - in 1972, when Bob Massie took eight wickets in each innings on his Test debut for Australia - all the others were drawn.

At least when England win at Lord's, they win big. Their wins in 1890 and 1896 were by six and seven wickets, while in 1884, 1886 and 1934 they won by an innings. The foundation for that most recent success was laid by a hundred for England's wicketkeeper and 15 wickets for their spin bowler. Can Matt Prior and Graeme Swann do the same this week?

In 1934, England began by making 440, recovering from 182 for five, with Maurice Leyland, of Yorkshire, and Les Ames, the Kent wicketkeeper, each making hundreds. Australia replied with 284: a hundred for Bill Brown - who was the final man from that match to die, last year - and 36 off 37 balls for Don Bradman, who was caught and bowled to be the first of Hedley Verity's 15 wickets, 14 of them coming on the third day when rain on the Sunday, a rest day, had made batting tricky.

The Yorkshire left-arm spinner, who reportedly bowled an impeccable length, dismissed Bradman for 13 in the second innings, too, as Australia followed on 156 runs behind, as the rules at the time allowed. By ten to 6, the match was over and England had levelled the series, although Australia would go on to win 2-1.

On his way to Lord's on the Monday morning, Verity had run over a black cat in his car. So much for it being bad luck. Perhaps the ECB should round up a collection of North London's strays and scatter them along Swann's route in?

For the record: Ashes results at Lord's

1884 England by an innings and five runs
1886 England by an innings and 106 runs
1888 Australia by 61 runs
1890 England by seven wickets
1893 Draw
1896 England by six wickets
1899 Australia by ten wickets
1902 Draw
1905 Draw
1909 Australia by nine wickets
1912 Draw
1921 Australia by eight wickets
1926 Draw
1930 Australia by seven wickets
1934 England by an innings and 38 runs
1938 Draw
1948 Australia by 409 runs
1953 Draw
1956 Australia by 185 runs
1961 Australia by five wickets
1964 Draw
1968 Draw
1972 Australia by eight wickets
1975 Draw
1977 Draw
1980 Draw
1981 Draw
1985 Australia by four wickets
1989 Australia by six wickets
1993 Australia by an innings and 62 runs
1997 Draw
2001 Australia by eight wickets
2005 Australia by 239 runs
Overall Played: 33, England: 5, Australia: 14, Draw: 14
England High score: 494, Low score: 53
Australia High score: 729, Low score: 53