If it is, the chances are that it will suit England's attempt to beat Pakistan for only the second time in the last 14 years. This is their 18th Test in that period and a really convincing England performance, after four successive series wins for Pakistan, is long overdue. It is not insignificant that the isolated England win took place on this ground four years ago, a fact which, for all Pakistan's 164-run win at Lord's, makes the odds of 7-2 against an England win look quite appealing. Dominic Cork, Chris Lewis and Andrew Caddick are all, potentially, Headingley types.
Leeds Tests invariably produce interest and incident. Pre-match ticket sales of 8,500 for today are disappointing but there will be at least 14,500 here tomorrow and 12,000 on Saturday. The pitch is the one on which England won a low-scoring one-day international against India in the bright dawn of early season.
If Mike Atherton wins the toss for the first time in a Test match this season he will be sorely tempted to field first. His deci- sion would depend on the weather - the forecast for today at least is good - and on the delicate choice England must make first about the balance of their side. Atherton and Wasim Akram will toss for which of the two types of Englishmade ball to use - England want the Dukes, Pakistan the Reader but an even cov- ering of thin, light green grass above an essentially dry pitch with the familiar Headingley cracks on its surface suggests a certain amount of movement off the seam whichever ball is used.
Headingley's new groundsman, Andy Fogarty, under whom the outfield has become less artificially green but the square greatly improved, had no intention of mowing until this morning, despite improved weather yesterday afternoon. So far England's only definite decision is that Alec Stewart will open with Atherton, with Nasser Hussain returning at three and Nick Knight and John Crawley perhaps floating at five and six depending on whether a left or a right-hander is the not out batsman when the third wicket falls.
The probability, however, is that England will play six batsmen and four fast bowlers, hoping, above all, that Cork will return to his best.
There was more to be said for leaving Knight and Stewart at two and three. Hussain, who would then have come in at five, is every bit as good a player of spin as Knight, who has been dropped down to counter Mushtaq Ahmed. With Stewart opening, however, there is a case for leaving out Knight or John Crawley, cruel though that would be, allowing Ronnie Irani to balance the side and the sole spinner, Ian Salisbury, to play. When the weather is fine, after all, Leeds pitches can be very flat.
Caddick, resuming his Test career today after eight matches in which his 23 wickets came at 44 runs each, will recall with little pleasure his first experience of a Test here in 1993, when he, Mark Ilott, Martin Bicknell and Martin McCague comprised one of the more unlikely of the attacks fielded by England in recent years. Australia scored 653 for four declared.
Salisbury would give variety, even in weather conditions which are likely to favour the swingers and seamers. Phil Tufnell took four for 112 here in 1994 - only Philip DeFreitas took more -and it took a flighted ball from Richard Illingworth last year to stop a rampagaing Brian Lara.
By preferring Irani (batting average this season 32 and in two Tests against India 25) to Crawley or Knight (Test average 22 in both cases) England would not on paper weaken their batting, especially as Salisbury would get more runs than Alan Mullally, who would be the unlucky fast bowler. They would still have four seamers and a leg-spinner and it is a fact that the fourth of them, Irani, has taken his wickets this season, 35 of them, more cheaply than Mullally, Caddick, Dominic Cork and Chris Lewis.
The probability, however, is that England will play six batsmen and four fast bowlers, hoping, above all, that Cork will return to his best. His 15 Test wickets this season have come more expensively than Mullally's 16, but, zealot for the game that he is, he is less concerned than the England coach that he bowled 43 overs in Derbyshire's three-day win over Gloucestershire. Lloyd plans to use Cork sparingly on tour this winter but, as Atherton says, ``it's hard to get the ball off him''.
No harder than Wasim Akram will find it to prise the ball from the grasp of his two match-winning bowlers at Lord's, Waqar Younis and Mushtaq. Wasim himself may enjoy bowling here too when the cloud is overhead and Ata-ur-Rehman, being, like Caddick, a tall man who hits the seam, should also cause problems. Pakistan are expected to make but one change, bringing in the experienced left-handed Asif Mujtaba for Aamir Sohail, whose wrist, injured at Lord's, is now in plaster. The 18-year-old Shadab Kabir will open again with Saeed Anwar. Anwar, Inzamam, Ijaz and Salim Malik will need to play more tightly than they sometimes do if the ball moves around.
For all Wasim's under- standable comments about the unavailability of the indoor school, incidentally, the nets were perfectly suitable for a practice yesterday afternoon if either side had really wanted to.
ENGLAND (from): *M A Atherton, A J Stewart, N Hussain, G P Thorpe, J P Crawley, N V Knight, C C Lewis, -R C Russell, D G Cork, A R Caddick, A D Mullally, R C Irani, I D K Salisbury.
PAKISTAN (from): Shadab Kabir, Saeed Anwar, Ijaz Ahmed, Inzamamul-Haq, Salim Malik, Asif Mujtaba, *Wasim Akram, -Rashid Latif, Mushtaq Ahmed, Waqar Younis, Ata-ur-Rehman, Saqlain Mushtaq, Mohammad Akram, Shahid Nazir.
Umpires: D Shepherd & S Bucknor (W Indies). Third umpire: R Julian. Match referee: P van der Merwe (S Africa).