Coach Duncan Fletcher has set England a target of 350 in the first innings of the Second Ashes Test at Lord's.

With the home side on 121-4 after a first day punctuated by weather interruptions, that may seem a tall order but Fletcher believes his batsmen have so far performed well.

And, of course, Graham Thorpe is still there on 16 off 38 balls and he looked confident on the first day despite his seven-week lay-off because of a calf injury.

Fletcher said: "Mark Ramprakash's was an important wicket; we'd have been a lot more comfortable going into tomorrow only three down.

"I thought after they way we looked at Edgbaston they batted well. Out of the four dismissals, three were to really good deliveries.

"Maybe Marcus Trescothick would look at his and say it was a bit of a rash shot. The one that got Ramprakash came back up the hill. Mark Butcher got a good one. I thought the guys batted well.

"Obviously we are looking at 350. That's the score we should try and get to, but it's a wicket that's offered something and hopefully it will continue that way for the next couple of days.

"With Graham, we realised it was a bit of a risk because he hadn't played for some time.

"The most important thing was that Graham was very confident, he wanted to play, he wanted to go out there and do battle with the Aussies. The mental side is very, very important. I think he looked pretty good.

"Tomorrow will be very important. Hopefully Stewart and Thorpe can put on a good partnership and we can build towards that 350."

Australian coach John Buchanan said: "It was a day when it was hard for any side to build any momentum.

"I suppose having sent England in, getting four wickets on reasonably benign wicket, we are reasonably pleased.

"Overall our bowling performance was better than the First Test. The areas we bowled in were much better than at Edgbaston.

"Thorpe and Stewart will be our first priorities tomorrow, obviously. Thorpe's come to the crease handled himself reasonably well. There are areas there we hope to exploit tomorrow."

Mark Waugh's catch of Mark Butcher at second slip was his 157th in Tests, equalling the world record of his former captain Mark Taylor, and Buchanan paid tribute to the player's consistency in the slip cordon.

Buchanan added: "I think Mark's taken some amazing catches in the time that I've been associated with the team.

"This one was a nice one to have and I'd say there's plenty more catches round the corner for him in this series.

"One of the key words for him is anticipation; no matter what position he fields in, he actually watches the ball from the bowler's hand - not many players do that.

"He has a feeling of the way it is going. No matter whether he's on the ground or standing still, the result's still the same the way he catches the ball.

"I think that's one of the secrets, he's an athlete when the ball's nearby - good reflexes."

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