LONDON (AP)

England captain Andrew Strauss said his century on the first day of the second Ashes Test against Australia at Lord's yesterday was one of the best of his career.

Strauss, playing on his home ground, was 161 not out at stumps as England reached 364 for six. The opener reached his 18th test century after batting throughout the day, for six hours and seven minutes, hitting 22 boundaries.

"It's right up there," a visibly proud Strauss told reporters. "An Ashes Test century at Lord's is pretty much the best you can get. It's very special. Hopefully, it's unfinished business and we can go on in the morning."

Strauss knows all about highlights at Lord's, having scored 112 and 83 on his Test debut there against New Zealand in 2004. His first eight Tests were all wins. He believes his form of late even supersedes that period.

Strauss has notched six test hundreds from the time he scored centuries in both innings against India in Chennai in December, including three in consecutive matches on the West Indies tour earlier this year.

It's a far cry from the English winter of 2007-08 when he was left out of the tour party to Sri Lanka after going more than a year without a hundred.

improved form

His form has been especially improved by the added responsibility of captaincy. As skipper, he averages 62 in 14 matches, against an average of 41 from the 50 matches in which he did not lead the team.

"In the last six months, I feel like I have been batting the best of my career and when you are batting like that it is very enjoyable and you don't feel any pressure," he said. "Hopefully, that will continue for a few years to come."

Strauss registered 5,000 Test runs in the penultimate over of the day but he was not at all excited by it.

"Stats don't mean that much to me," he said. "When you consider that (Australia captain) Ricky Ponting has 11,000 Test runs, I am just out of nappies in comparison."