August 04, 2006	Friday	Rajab 8, 1427

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KARACHI, Aug 3: Pakistan cricket team, not withstanding the spate of injuries to leading bowlers and lack of killer-instinct, brace themselves for a daunting challenge when they meet England in the crucial third Test at Headingley from Friday.

To begin with, the visitors could be dismayed by the fact that history is heavily weighed against them. They have won just a solitary Test at Headingley previously, which was as long ago as July 1987 when Imran Khan’s match haul of 10 for 77 propelled Pakistan to an innings and 18-run victory. By virtue of that triumph in the third Test, Imran’s men won the five-match series 1-0.

England, in comparison, have a much better track record against Pakistan at Headingley, emerging victorious on no less than four occasions in the eight Test matches played at this venue between the two countries during the last 44 years.

England chalked up an innings and 117-run win inside three days in the third Test of the 1962 series when Pakistan failed to go past the 200 figure in either innings despite opener Alimuddin’s fluent 50 and 60 in the two innings of the match. England eventually whitewashed Pakistan 4-0 in the series.

In 1971, England wrapped up the series by winning the third and final Test at Headingley by a narrow margin of 25 runs after Pakistan had taken a lead of 34 runs in the first innings.

The 1974 Headingley Test, which opened the series, was poised for an exciting result when England reached 238 for six on the fourth evening in pursuit of a target of 282. But the last day was washed out without a ball being bowled and the match ended in a draw.

In 1978’s rather forgetful Test series, a second-string Pakistan side (minus Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket-contracted players) had the better of the rain-hit final Test which petered off to a draw.

England’s last series win (2-1) against Pakistan on home soil came at Headingley in 1982 when poor umpiring, notably by David Constant, resulted in a three-wicket defeat for Imran’s team in the last Test.

Ten years later, Pakistan avenged that defeat, winning the 1992 series 2-1 although Headingley was still a moment of triumph for England. The hosts drew level in the fourth Test at the picturesque ground as debutant Neil Mallender, a swing bowler and now an umpire, captured seven wickets in a six-wicket win.

Overall, England have won 28 of the 65 Tests staged at Headingley with Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh the only teams yet to play in a Leeds Test.

A staggering 74 percent of the matches have ended in a decisive result at Headingley. The ratio has risen to a remarkable 84 percent since 1990 with 11 out of 13 Tests producing a result.

Between the two current outfits, only five players have appeared in a Headingley Test before Friday’s clash.

English quartet of skipper Andrew Strauss, Marcus Trescothick, Matthew Hoggard and Steve Harmison have all played here while Pakistan skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq is the only Pakistani among the current squad to have made a previous Test appearance at Headingley.

Unfortunately, the master batsman’s two Tests at this venue saw him score 5 and 19 in 1992 and 2 and 65 in the drawn game in 1996.

Hoggard, who plays for Yorkshire in the English domestic competitions, has enjoyed moderate success on his home territory. He averages 38.57 at the ground and has a strike-rate of 66.8, having picked up seven wickets in the two Tests at Headingley.

Recent history also favours England slightly because since turn of the 21st century, they have won three Tests at Headingley — against the West Indies, Australia and New Zealand — and lost to India and South Africa.

The last seven Tests at Headingley have yielded outright results. The last drawn fixture at this venue was against Pakistan 10 years ago.