Whither spirit of cricket in Lord's?

In the Age Greg Baum says that England's attitude has been unexpectedly cynical so far in the series.

Early in Michael Clarke's commendable innings at Lord's, he was forced to jerk his head out of the way of a searing Andrew Flintoff bouncer. The ball clipped Clarke's helmet on its way through to wicketkeeper Matthew Prior... from the slips cordon, England captain Andrew Strauss appealed. For what? A man who had made nearly 200 runs himself in the match assuredly has better eyes than to believe it was a catch and no other form of dismissal was possible. It can only be that Strauss was trying one on. Already, officiating was a burning issue. Already, there was consternation. If the umpires already had made one bad decision, might they not make another, especially if rattled?

After a match in which Strauss was involved in a catching controversy, and Ponting vehemently questioned umpiring decisions, Kevin Mitchell writes in the Guardian that neither captain has shown much regard for the spirit of the game.

Nasser Hussain is hugely impressed with Andrew Strauss' captaincy in the Lord's Test, calling it a "spotless display of leadership" which was "a demonstration of the man's character, tactical acumen and his leadership of men". Read more in the Daily Mail

And a week after being dubbed a 'hypocrite' and 'irrelevant' by Ponting, Duncan Fletcher writes in the Guardian that Strauss' assured leadership leaves us wondering which of the two captains have been in charge of their side for five years.

In the Independent, Peter Roebuck spares a thought for the other hero of the second innings, Michael Clarke, whose sparkling century wasn't enough to prevent an Australian defeat.