It is 25 years ago this week that Worcestershire legend Graeme Hick made his Test debut for England against the formidable West Indies attack at Headingley.
Hick had been built up in the media as England's saviour after several prolific and trophy-laced years in County cricket with Worcestershire.
But he was confronted with a menacing attack of Curtly Ambrose, Patrick Patterson, Courtney Walsh and Malcolm Marshall.
The quartet posed a threat to even the most experienced of Test batsmen – a sharp contrast to the bowlers facing the current England batting line-up from Sri Lanka this summer.
It was a baptism of fire for a 25-year-old Hick who was dismissed for six in both innings – caught behind off Walsh in the first innings and bowled by Ambrose in the second.
But he did have the satisfaction of appearing on the winning side thanks mainly to the efforts of Phil De Freitas and Graham Gooch.
De Freitas picked up four wickets in both innings and Gooch scored 154 not out of England's 252 in their second innings as they triumphed by 115 runs.
Hick had to wait until the following summer to score his first Test half century against Pakistan at Edgbaston and an attack spearheaded by Waqar Younis.
He played 65 Tests and scored 3,383 runs at an average of 31.32 with six hundreds and 18 fifties.
The England side on Hick's Test debut a quarter of a century ago was:
Gooch
Atherton
Hick
Lamb
Ramprakash
R Smith
Russell
Pringle
De Freitas
Watkin
Malcolm
