England gamble on bowling length and line

DAVID LLOYD is a sufficient optimist to believe that if there is, life on Mars chances are it will produce an all rounder who can, reverse swing the old ball and hit a century in half an hour.

But, after the drubbing at Lord's, even he must already be wondering whether his expressed belief that in around 1,000 days' England will have been transformed into the mightiest cricket team on this or any other planet might not come back to haunt him.

In the second Test with Pakistan, which begins at Headingley today, England have the opportunity to redress the balance, and maintain a hope of doing what no other side has done in England by coming back from a game down 10 win a three match series. It will be a gamble, but one worth taking.

To win, England have gone against the official grain in this country and asked for a pinch made to their specification one which responds to the very English virtues of length and line. But to take the game, England's bowlers will need to out bowl their counterparts, and there is little room for error. This promises to be a low scoring tight tussle.

If Lloyd a coach who is always searching for inspirational material needs anything extra for this match, then he need look, no further than the last time the two sides met at Headingley. In, the last 15 years, England have won some here, lost some, and drawn just the once, but bless, em, when they played Pakistan four years ago, they won by 6 wickets inside four days.

It is their only win against them in 17 matches, and they did it, against the same demons Wasim Waqar and Mushtaq, by giving, the same attention to the basics crease occupancy and accurate, no frills bowling as they will try to employ here on what promises to be a slow, rather than capricious, seamer.

Graham Gooch's superb, dedicated first innings century was decisive but the balance was tipped by a seam attack Lewis, Mallender, Pringle, and Munton chosen specifically for the Headingley job in hand. On most other pitches, it would have been dismissed as toothless and stereotypical. At Leeds, with cloud cover and a sappy unreliable pitch, it was lethal.

Mallender took 8 wickets in the match as Pakistan were twice dismissed, for 197 and 221.

In the absence of anyone to match this type of attack, life best Pakistan bowling came from Mushtaq who took five wickets with his leg breaks. Wasim, by contrast, took just one in the match, and if Waqar took 5 wickets in the first innings, they cost, him 117 runs not a fair return at all.

England will probably omit Ronnie Irani and Ian Salisbury and given that England employed seven front line batsmen in the 1992 match (Graeme Hick batted at seven), today's probable six looks thin on the ground by contrast.

Stewart, whose foot movement and form appear to have returned, will open with Atherton, resuming what is perceived as a mighty partnership (actually the pair average around 30 runs a time, compared with more than 60 when Atherton partnered Gooch).

It's an arguable move, for Stewart came back into the side only after injury to Nick Knight and if Knight was thought to be the best opener prior to that, little has happened, since then to alter the view. He is unlucky not to get the chance to consolidate his role.

Against that comes the idea that if Waqar begins to reverse swing the old ball, another lefthander down the order is no bad thing. Nasser Hussain, who made two centuries against India at number three before breaking his hand, returns to that position.

The bowling will be strengthened by the return of Lewis and, indeed, Andrew Caddick. Lewis had already done much this season to cast off his injury prone image until dropping out of the last Test. But for Caddick, this really is a chance that might not have come round again. His tortured shins appear to be functioning properly again, and now he needs to show that he can contribute both on and off the field, for there is no doubting that he is as talented a seam bowler as anyone in the team. He, of all four bowlers, could be England's match winner.

Yesterday, however, Mike Atherton admitted his concern for the continuing well being of Dominic Cork, whose form has been below his best. "When you see that he's been bowling 21 overs off the reel in the match, before a Test, you begin to wonder. But I'm not blaming his captain or the county, because he can always say no.

"The trouble is that it is a struggle to get the ball out of his hands. No question, though, that he is concerned to further his career and recognises the need to get his body and, in particular, his knees stronger. For my part I intend to look after him. In Zimbabwe this winter, he'll bowl in the Tests and not much else."