After a miserable performance against the touring Indian side (four innings, 35 runs), Hick seemed a sure candidate for the selectorial axe. More so, because he looked thoroughly out of sorts against the pace of Venkatesh Prasad and Javagal Srinath, so how was Ray Illingworth and his fellow selectors to risk playing him against the lethal Wasim Akram-Waqar Younis combination?

But Hick being Hick, he came good with a crackling 150 for Worcestershire against Durham over the weekend, in the process not only creating a record by scoring a century against every county on the circuit, but also ensuring that the England selectors, if they dropped him for the first Test versus Pakistan beginning at Lord's Thursday, would never be able to sleep easy.

Illingworth, for one, appears in no mood to take the risk of dropping the Zimbabwe-born Hick. ``If you are making runs,'' Illy pontificated, ``you are better both mentally and physically. His 150 on a wicket which was helpful to bowlers was a matchwinning effort that turned the game. After this, his confidence should be back.''

Meanwhile Simon Brown, England's latest tyro, shrugged off doubts about his fitness after taking an Alamgir Sheriyar yorker on his foot in the game against Worcestershire. The 27-yearold left-arm pace bowler with 56 victims thus far this season did not bowl in the Worcs innings, but watched from the sidelines while Hick read the riot act to the depleted Durham attack.

''I was hit full on the foot, had a bit of bruising but I am fine now, nothing is broken,'' Brown said, adding that he was thrilled at becoming the first Durham player since Ian Botham to make it to the England side. ''It's a dream come true for me.''

Brown will probably compete with fellow left-arm seamer Alan Mullally for a place in Thursday's line-up alongside Dominic Cork and Chris Lewis - if the latter shrugs off a thigh strain, that is.

In the event Lewis stays out and Brown and Mullally play, then England will have two left-arm seamers operating with the new ball. And Illingworth indicated that current thinking favoured including spinner Ian Salisbury, in a bid to counter Pakistan's predominantly left-handed top order. Graeme Hick will also be pressed into service to provide spin at one end, Illy indicated. ``Against India at Lord's we played four seamers and looked stereotyped,'' said the chairman of the England selectors.

Before England decides on its final lineup, though, the selectors will have to first ensure that Nasser Hussain and Chris Lewis are fully fit. Hussain had injured his hand during the third Cornhill Test against India at Trent Bridge earlier this month, while Lewis is nursing a thigh strain.

Both players are expected to be subjected to testing workouts on Tuesday before their fate is decided. If Lewis is ruled out, Brown and Mullally will both get to play. And if Hussain is out, then Alec Stewart could be dropped down one place, to number three, to allow left-handed Nick Knight to open alongside skipper Atherton. Knight, it will be recalled, hit an unbeaten 90 against Pakistan last week, to guide Warwickshire to a win over the tourists.