Indeed, with the pitch spending the last two days under covers, a process that normally greens it up, the openers would have been cursing their captain as they walked to the crease.In truth, it turned out very well for them as Pakistan failed to hit the full and consistent length required at this time of year. Even under the heavy cloud cover before lunch, lateral movement was minimal, a fact illustrated in the way Atherton and Marcus Trescothick eased the ball about in their 60-run partnership for the first wicket. Trescothick, still a relative newcomer to Test cricket, looks solid in stature as well as technique. A left-hander who mainly plays in the "V" between mid-on and mid-off, he looked flawless until he sliced a drive off Abdur to gully.In contrast, Atherton, the opening partner he has developed such a rapport with, rarely hits the ball through mid-off, preferring to play it late into gaps to be found at more oblique angles.
In that respect Waqar, who had a mid-off and an extra cover to him, failed to build pressure and Pakistan's swagger at having won the toss soon developed a limp.It was not the only slip and the visitors' capacity for surprise began before a single ball had been bowled, when they announced their team. The news that the off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq, the bowler with most recent experience of English conditions, had been left out to accommodate a five-man pace attack raised a few eyebrows, especially when one of the quintet was Shoaib Akhtar.Ten days ago against Derbyshire, Shoaib looked barely half-fit and very tentative about his bowling action. To play him in this Test was clearly a risk, which, without wickets to his name, has yet to come off. He did bowl some brisk balls, though, the odd one breaking the 90mph mark. Without Saqlain to keep things tight, he was forced to rein back and it was not until Azhar came on after lunch that Shoaib could concentrate on all-out attack.Forty minutes into the afternoon session, Azhar, the most English-like of Pakistan's bowlers, clawed his side back into the game.
An all-rounder good enough to score three Test centuries in his first eight matches, Azhar has a high action which keeps the seam as upright as a guardsmen.Scampering in from the Nursery End, he wobbled, shaped and moved the ball with fingertip control. His first victim, Michael Vaughan, can consider himself unlucky, getting a fine tickle on a ball harmlessly drifting down the leg side.In his first innings up the order at No 3, Vaughan did not disappoint his promoters. Off the mark with an off-drive for four, his next five scoring shots went 4, 4, 4, 1, 6 the last a free hit off a rank long-hop as Waqar gave a pre-lunch over to the part-time leg-spinner Younis Khan. It was at that point Saqlain's ghost was spotted waving a white flag from the Mound stand.* The Australian fast bowlers Brett Lee and Jason Gillespie will undergo fitness tests in Sydney today to determine if they can take part in this summer's Ashes tour. Both have been selected, but have to prove their fitness after suffering injuries earlier in the year.. Martin Bicknell returned to haunt Leicestershire as Surrey took control of their rain-affected Cricinfo County Championship First Division game at The Oval yesterday.
