After two days at Lord's, I am convinced that the rain in Spain falls mainly in London rather than in the plains.

Despite the frustration that comes with damp weather, there was one good news for the Australian team -- the rain drops falling on Glenn McGrath's head seemed to have a positive effect on the fast bowler.

McGrath kept his head at Lord's and reaped the rewards. Where the lanky quickie had got cranky at Edgbaston and lost his train of thought, on this occasion he smiled, kept thinking and picked up three wickets in a fine opening spell. Not even an edged boundary from both lefthanders Mark Butcher and Graham Thorpe caused McGrath to lose his cool and he maintained a good line and lenghth on a bowler-friendly pitch.

This must have brought great relief to Australian captain Mark Taylor on two counts. First, he would have been delighted to witness the return to form of one of his major strike force. Secondly, it coincided with his decision to insert England. This judgement was based on the cloud cover and Taylor's reading of the situation was perfect as McGrath homed in on off-stump.

McGrath's relentless attack looked to have been rewarded with a fourth victim when Thorpe edged a late moving delivery but Ian Healy's sportsmanship ensured no injustice was done. Once he realised (after coming up following a diving roll) that an appeal had been made, he ran across to the conferring umpires to inform them that the ball hadn't carried. Healy's sporting action must have delighted the Lord's officials.

In addition to being a great morale booster, McGrath's return to form will also help Shane Warne whose job becomes easier.

SCOREBOARD

England (1st innings): M Butcher c Blewett b McGrath 5, M Atherton c Taylor b McGrath 1, A Stewart b McGrath 1, N Hussain batting 10, G Thorpe batting 13. Extras (b 4, nb 4): 8. Total (for 3 wickets, in 21 overs): 38Fall of wickets: 1-11, 2-12, 3-13

To bat: J Crawley, R Croft, D Gough, A Caddick, D Malcolm, M Ealham

Bowling: McGrath 10-2-21-3, Reiffel 6-4-4-0 (2nb), Kasprowicz 5-1-9-0 (2nb)

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.