In addition to the axing of Mohammad Wasim and Mohammad Hussain from the First Test side, Wasim Akram withdrew from the team yesterday due to a throat infection. Akram was named yesterday at the Lahore High Court judicial inquiry by bookmaker Raja Aftab as allegedly being involved with match fixing. Saqlain Mushtaq was unavailable for selection for the Second Test as he had flown to London last week to be with his ailing father. Today's ``The News'' (Karachi) reports however that Saqlain returned to Lahore from London yesterday.

Into the Pakistan side come Ijaz Ahmed (also named by Raja Aftab yesterday in his sworn testimony yesterday, as was Saleem Malik), Yousif Youhana, Mohammad Zahid and Shoaib Akhtar. Mushtaq Ahmed is playing despite a knee injury which looked yesterday likely to keep him on the sidelines. Shahid Afridi is, yet again, twelfth man in a Test match, still to make his first appearance in a starting eleven. With Mohammad Zahid and Shoaib Akhtar in the side, Pakistan go into this Test with an entirely different new-ball attack.

Following concerns over previous crowd incidents at the ground on earlier Australian tours, there is heavy security at the ground, with about 700 guards on duty. It was expected that spectators were to be subject to body searches before admission to the ground.

Approximate prices being offered by Australian on-line betting sites just before the start of the Test: Australian win 2-1, Pakistani win 5-2, Draw evens.

There was off-field controversy for the Australian camp on the evening before the Test. Photos taken by the Australian media on Tuesday of the tourists on their day off at the Khyber Pass on Tuesday included one, published in Australian newspapers, of team manager Steve Bernard and players Gavin Robertson and Justin Langer brandishing AK-47 semi-automatic rifles in the company of Pakistani border guards. Today's ``The Australian'' reports that Bernard was forced to give an apology following complaints from anti-gun lobbyists in Australia over the photograph, with ACB chairman Denis Rogers quoted as saying that the images in the photo did not conform with the values of the Australian cricket team.

Second Test Teams

Australia: Mark Taylor (capt), Michael Slater, Justin Langer, Mark Waugh, Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting, Ian Healy, Damien Fleming, Colin Miller, Stuart MacGill, Glenn McGrath. Michael Kasprowicz (12th man).

Pakistan: Aamir Sohail (capt), Saeed Anwar, Inzamam Ul-Haq, Salim Malik, Ijaz Ahmed, Yousuf Youhana, Moin Khan, Azhar Mahmood, Mohammad Zahid, Shoaib Akhtar, Mushtaq Ahmed. Shahid Afridi (12th man).

West Indian Steve Bucknor and former Pakistan off-spinner Mohammad Nazir Junior are the umpires.