England's selectors had a particularly tricky job and, curiously enough, the decision to drop Hick for the fifth time in six summers as an England cricketer was almost the easiest of the conundrums facing them. By all accounts he played two high-class innings for Worcestershire in the current match against Kent, which is not surprising because he is a very high-class player. He goes because of the mounting evidence that he freezes in a crisis, be it personal or team.
Ray Illingworth was equivocal when asked if this time Hick will have a long rest, not least because the chairman will be handing on to someone else once this winter's touring teams have been picked. On one hand, Hick would be lucky to tour the two countries he knows best, Zimbabwe and New Zealand, picking up inconsistent Test performances in England next season. On the other, it is high time England won two Test series in a row and if Hick were to score a mountain of runs against opposition he savours, he should go and make hay.
That is tomorrow's argument. Today's was, as Illingworth said, about ``a Test match England have got to win. We can't afford to carry anyone who isn't doing well at the moment.'' So Hick takes a Test average of 36, and 2,672 runs from 80 innings, into temporary oblivion at least, along with his brilliant fielding and occasionally useful off-breaks. Into his place comes Crawley, who will be no less hungry to establish himself than Nasser Hussain was at the start of this season, especially after the vicissitudes which began afresh when he pulled a hamstring before he could even bat in the Durban Test last December.
England are hoping that the grass will be left on a pitch which, if it is similar to the others on a frugally used Headingley square will be essentially true.
Like Hussain, Crawley does well when the going gets tough, and he will play Mushtaq Ahmed's leg-breaks better than most. No decision has been made yet on whether Hussain or Alec Stewart will bat at three, but Jack Russell will definitely retain the wicketkeeping gloves. He, too, deals with Mushtaq relatively well, but Waqar Younis was a different proposition at Lord's as England collapsed.
England are hoping that the grass will be left on a pitch which, if it is similar to the others on a frugally used Headingley square, will be essentially true. Faced with the triple spectre of Waqar, Wasim and Mushtaq, England's plan is to shore up the batting with a sixth specialist and play only four bowlers, probably all seamers. This is why Caddick, who outbowled Darren Gough when Somerset played Yorkshire at Scarborough the weekend before last, though the figures barely reflected as much, has been chosen ahead of the unlucky Gough and the other swing specialists, Brown and Dean Headley.
Russell's retention is bad news for Salisbury, the 'fifth' bowler, though he might yet play if pitch and weather look dry on Thursday morning when the match starts. With no Hick there will be not even a semblance of spin if Salisbury is omitted. The adaptable Irani is the other favourite for omission, though his bowling has prospered more than his batting since he was left out after two appearances against India in which his batting showed glimpses of rare flair and his bowling great vistas of hope and self-belief.
England XIII (for the second Test against Pakistan): *M A Atherton (Lancashire), A J Stewart (Surrey), N Hussain (Essex), G P Thorpe (Surrey), -R C Russell (Gloucestershire), C C Lewis (Surrey), D G Cork (Derbyshire), A D Mullally (Leicestershire), I D K Salisbury (Sussex), N V Knight (Warwickshire), J P Crawley (Lancashire), A R Caddick (Somerset), R C Irani (Essex).