Australia's loss to England in the second Test at Lord's has left a mood of doom and gloom in the newspapers back home.

An inspired performance from Andrew Flintoff, battling against injury problems, guided England to a 115-run victory and a 1-0 lead in the Ashes series.

There may be three Tests left to play, but already some Down Under seem to be dreading the worst.

"Ricky Ponting is facing the greatest challenge of his captaincy to save the Ashes," wrote Malcolm Conn in The Australian newspaper.

"Going 0-1 down with three Tests to play has left one of Australia's greatest players and most successful skippers needing to lift an inexperienced team that has been flattened by its poor performance during the second Test at Lord's."

Conn pointed to Australia's failure to press home their advantage in the opening Test at Cardiff as handing England the momentum in the series, and he struck a downbeat tone in assessing the tourists' form, despite the 185-run partnership between Michael Clarke and Brad Haddin.

"The superb partnership between Clarke and Haddin should not be allowed to mask the days of dreadful cricket Australia played in the second Test, which left the tourists in a hopeless position," he wrote.

And while praising Ponting's record to date, he warned the Australia skipper that another Ashes defeat would scar his legacy.

"If Australia does not retain the Ashes it will be an unfortunate blemish on Ponting's imposing captaincy record," he wrote.

"He will become just the second Australia captain and first in more than 120 years to lose two series in England after the failure in 2005."

Momentum was also the focus of Chloe Saltau's summing up in the Melbourne Age.

"Not for the first time Andrew Flintoff has broken Australian hearts in an Ashes series," Saltau wrote. "And no Australian was more shattered than Michael Clarke, whose sparkling century could not stave off his country's first defeat at Lord's for 75 years.

"England will march to Edgbaston with a 1-0 Ashes lead after the wounded hero Flintoff, charging in on a busted knee, dashed Australian hopes of a world-record run chase with his first five-wicket haul since the Oval Test of 2005.

"The 31-year-old defined that famous series with his dominant performances with bat and ball and now, in his swansong Test series, he has inspired England to a 115-run victory in the second Test."

In the Sydney Morning Herald, Peter Roebuck voiced concern that, although Australia put up a fight in a tough spot, they have simply lost the winning habit.

"Not once on this Ashes and Twenty20 trip has Ricky Ponting's beleaguered party been able to sip from the cup of victory, among the sweetest libations of them all," he wrote.

"For Australian cricketers, that's a long time between drinks. Winning has become an aspiration not an expectation."

And while there has been plenty of discussion about some of the umpiring decisions in this Test, Roebuck said the Australian team must look first of all in the mirror.

"Neither umpires, toss, luck, nor the conditions, though, were to blame for Australia's poor position," he wrote.

"Throughout, their fate has lain in their own hands. For three and a half days the Australians were outgunned. At no stage did they look like the best side in the world.

"On this evidence India and South Africa are their superiors. For that matter England ran them ragged for most of this contest. Until the bowling improves, Australia's slide into the middle of the pack will be inexorable.

"Nor are Australia's problems easily solved because the selectors sent a party consisting of the side seen at Lord's, a spare gloveman, two crocked speedsters and an array of all-rounders."