IF Mike Atherton was given a fairly easy ride yesterday by Messrs Carmen and Gray in the High Court tear up a tenner competition, then he arrived back at Lord's in the knowledge that a more searching examination awaits in today's first Test.

Pakistan have something of a hold over England, losing just once in the last 16 matches.

Four years ago, at Lord's, in the second of a five match series, the two sides played out a classic ding dong of a contest, when an unbroken eighth wicket stand of 46 between Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis took Pakistan from 95 for eight to victory after 17 wickets had fallen on that fourth day.

It was, no one needs reminding, a spiteful summer. Pakistan, potentially a volatile outfit in any case under the leadership of Javed Miandad, were subjected to what amounted to a media witch hunt from the moment they arrived in England.

Incidents abounded the after cations between the umpire, Roy Palmer, and both Aqib Javed and Miandad at Old Trafford and, of, course, the ball tampering accusations, led by Mlan Lamb and due to be raised again.

Behind it all though, there was the sight of Wasim and Waqar, as potent a force as any in recent, Test history, powering their way through the England order with their irresistible pace and swing to take 43 wickets between them.

Now the pair are back Wasim as captain to try to take advantage of a side weakened by the enforced absence of Nasser Hussain and Chris Lewis. Both Englishmen were at practice yesterday lunchtime, but by the end it was clear that neither had recovered sufficiently from their injuries to risk them.

England therefore have lost two of the most successful players from the recent series against India, with Hussain having apparently solved the trouble spot at number three by scoring two centuries in three matches, and Lewis running in hard and taking on the role of strike bowler successfully.

It means though that Simon Brown, Durham's industrious left arm pace bowler, will have gone to bed last night knowing that he will make his England debut on the grandest stage, and Nick Knight will return to open the innings with Atherton.

An option would have been to play a sixth specialist batsman as security in the skirmishing at the start of a series and on a ground where England's recent record is not good. But there is no evidence to support the notion that the extra batsman has performed even adequately in the past, and at least there is variety in the attack, particularly with a brace of left arm pace bowlers, possibly a unique occurrence in England sides.

Waiting, however, will be not only the pace of Wasim and Waqar, but the leg spin of Mushtaq Ahmed, who was deemed to have out bowled Shanei Warne in Australia last winter.

Although it does not worry Atherton unduly, after the questions posed by Srinath and Prasad earlier in the summer, it is none the less a formidable prospect.

If England are to compete in the series, they need to bat as a team. For with runs on the board,, the bowlers can have a tilt at a Pakistan batting lineup that is full of quality but which, perhaps, just lacks the influence of one consistently dominant player. England can survive, win even, but they must play on the limit to do so.