Ultimate test for England

Graham Griffiths

Waqar, Warne and the Waughs are lining up to test resurgent England to the limit during a season offering the prospect of compelling, high-profile international cricket.

Waqar Younis's Pakistanis, who arrive here on Wednesday for a two-month tour, provide a tasty appetiser but the main course comes in the shape of Steve Waugh's Australians.

Waugh's men land at the end of May for a five-Test tour that features one of the most eagerly-awaited Ashes battles in recent times.

Australia's skipper, who epitomises the mental strength that is one of the key elements of his side's success, will not want to be the man who lets slip his country's grip on the Ashes they have held since 1989.

That is just one reason why England's revival under skipper Nasser Hussain and coach Duncan Fletcher -- who have won four Test series in a row -- is set to be confronted by the ultimate challenge.

Waugh, who is leading his country in an Ashes assignment for the first time, anticipates a real scrap.

"Every time we come up against England they have been good on paper but this time they've probably got a bit more. We're in for a tough time," he said.

Hussain's side won back-to-back Test series in Pakistan and Sri Lanka during the last five months but he is aware that will count for nothing what it comes to the Ashes.

"The last two series we won were because the opposition bottled it at the last minute and I don't think the Aussies will do that," England's captain said.

THRILLING STYLE

Pakistan launch the international programme with a two-test encounter next month in which they will seek to bounce back from a rare home defeat by England late last year.

Hussain's team won the three-Test rubber 1-0 in thrilling style with a run chase that ended in near darkness in the final match in Karachi, giving England their first series win in Pakistan since 1961-62.

Moin Khan paid the price for that failure by losing the Pakistan captaincy to Waqar, who apparently created a good impression in his new role at the recent Sharjah tournament against Sri Lanka and New Zealand.

Waqar, a fast bowler with a proven track record on English pitches, faces the familiar task for a Pakistan captain of turning a group of immensely talented individuals into an effective unit.

Early season in England is likely to be a pace bowlers' paradise for the two tests with Pakistan. The tourists may fare rather better than they did on the surfaces at home that seemed too slow for their vaunted spin attack in last year's series.

England's pace quartet -- Darren Gough, Andy Caddick, Dominic Cork and Craig White -- will also relish two Tests in May to underline the telling part they have played in the team's six wins in their last 10 tests.

The decision this season to follow the Pakistan tests with the 10-match triangular limited overs series between England, Pakistan and Australia before the start of the Ashes provides a more streamlined format.

Last year, the one-dayers cut into the five Tests against West Indies, losing the momentum to the series just when England had won an epic Lord's test to make it 1-1 with three matches to play.

There will be no such interruption to the five Ashes Tests, which start at Edgbaston, Birmingham, on July 5 and end at The Oval in late August.

With Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath ready to inflict further torment on England's batsmen in this country, Brett Lee vying with Pakistan's Shoaib Akhtar for the title of world's fastest bowler, and Mark Waugh due for a big Ashes series with the bat, the ingredients are there for a heady cricketing cocktail.

Mail Cricket Editor