GRAEME HICK'S Test career looked like it had been terminated at Lord's last evening, the latest failure of his miserable summer leaving England in a dog fight for supremacy in the first Test.
Hick was yorked for just four by Pakistan hitman Waqar Younis, bringing back memories of his nightmare start in international cricket and leaving him with just the second innings to retrieve a situation which seems to be spiralling out of control.
England's selectors have largely stood by Hick, despite his repeated failings against extreme pace. But the evidence presented by Waqar yesterday may persuade Ray Illingworth's panel that the time has come for final judgment even if Waqar's delivery had travelled at 82mph.
Graham Thorpe rallied England to 200 for five by the close after Hick's dismissal had further hastened a decline from 107 for one to 116 for four in reply to Pakistan's 340.
Joined initially in a stand of 64 with Mark Ealham (25) and then by Jack Russell, Thorpe held Pakistan at bay with a mixture of tight defence and the occasional sparkling drive or pull and his 43 not out was a confidence booster. Nick Knight and Alec Stewart had earlier played with poise for 51 and 39 respectively in a second wicket stand of 80.
