But there are those in the England batting lineup - the name of Graeme Hick springs readily to mind - who will argue that it is dig- nity that Waqar Younis robs you of, when he races in to bowl with a ball 60 overs or more old.

Arguably the greatest exponent of the fast, swinging yorker in cricket history, Younis returns to the bowling crease Thursday with his hamstring presumably fortified by nine whole days of rest.

And the pace ace, whose eight wicket haul spearheaded Pakistan's 164-run victory in the first Test at Lord's, must be looking to carry on where he left off. Interestingly, Waqar admitted in course of the first Test that he was not 100 per cent fit during the game. If so, if a less than fully fit Waqar could create such havoc against England on a Lord's wicket that had nothing in it for the fast bowler, then his prospects on the green Headingley wicket boggle the imagina- tion.

One is never quite sure, with the laconic bowler, whether his comments are intended as serious, or sarcastic. But when, at the end of the Lord's Test, Waqar was asked about the unhelpful nature of the Lord's wicket, his comment was a classic: ``I never depend on the wicket,'' the fast bowler said. ``The yorker is my main weapon.''

As witness the almost inevitable fashion in which he dismissed Hick. In both innings at Lord's, Waqar softened the England batsman up with a couple of fast lifters, then slammed one right into the blockhole to rearrange the alignment of the stumps. On both occasions, Hick's bat came down considerably after the rattle of the timber, indi- cating the extreme pace and accuracy with which Waqar had fired in his trademark delivery.

The England players have been using an electronic bowling machine to prepare for the second Test. ``We are practising how to deal with Waqar,'' England coach David Lloyd said.

But no bowling machine can duplicate the late inswing that is so peculiarly a Pakistan trademark. The danger in combating Younis in particular is not the fact of the yorker itself, but the fact that the ball swings very very late, leaving the batsman no time to react.

Another area in which Pakistan excels is in running through a side at lightning speed. Thus, in a measure aimed at stiffening the batting and giving it some durability, England has brought back Nasser Hussain, the side's leading scorer in the earlier series against India. Hussain is known more for his obduracy than for the range of his strokeplay, and England badly needs a batsman who will hang in there and stonewall the Pakistan barrage.

On a grassy pitch, England are also likely to drop Salisbury from the playing eleven, and go with a four-man seam attack with Do- minic Cork and Chris Lewis as spearheads, and Andrew Caddick and Allan Mullaly in support.

The four man seam attack could take some measure of comfort from the green nature of the wicket, and from the fact that Heading- ley, at this time of the year, is notoriously prone to sudden cloud covers - something that can turn batting into a nightmare, given the ball's tendency to wobble.

David Lloyd has indicated that England will be looking for a win, with which to square the series before thet wo teams go to the Oval for the last Test. As for Pakistan skipper Wasim Akram, his goal is even simpler. ``We mean to finish the series at Headingley,'' Akram says.

One way or another, a result is almost guaranteed. In the last 10 years, Headingley has hosted nine Tests. One has been drawn, two have gone in favour of England, and six in favour of opposing sides.

Michael Atherton and his men will be looking at correcting the imbalance in that ledger.