Date-stamped : 13 Jul96 - 02:16 12 July 1996 Atherton praises Indians, but is wary of Pakistan LONDON, Thursday - England captain Michael Atherton expressed satisfaction with England`s progress at the midway point of the summer on Wednesday, but also praised the under-rated Indian tourists and urged caution going into the forthcoming series against the formidable Pakistanis. ``It should be an interesting series against Pakistan,`` said the England skipper. ``They`ve got a lot of good, exciting players and they`ll have more back-up than India.`` Atherton said Indian opening bowlers Javagal Srinath and Venka- tesh Prasad were ``fine bowlers`` who lacked support in the series England won 1-0. ``The good things for us from the series against India are the re-emergence of Chris Lewis, who has played in the traditional strike bowler`s role, and of Nasser Hussain,`` Atherton said. ``Alan Mullally bowled well as the third seamer and Mark Ealham and Ronnie Irani are two young emerging cricketers for the fu- ture, giving us plenty of encouragement. But the most important fact is that we won the series.`` But Atherton said England could not afford over-confidence when they face the Pakistanis. ``It should be a spicy series,`` he said. ``India have some cricketers, like Sachin Tendulkar, who Pakistan won`t have. But Pakistan are a stronger team all-round, and we will have to be at our best to win.`` Recent England-Pakistan series have been acrimonious, including the last one in 1992, but Pakistan skipper Wasim Akram has been at pains to play down the darker moments of past years since ar- riving in the country. Pakistan have world-class bowling in depth in the shape of Akram, Waqar Younis and Mustaq Ahmed , all three with vast experience of English conditions, and exciting batsmen in vice-captain Amir Sohail, Salim Malik and Inzamam-ul-Haq. Atherton and Akram are, of course, teammates at Lancashire. ``There will be a few words said here and there when we`re on the pitch, but I`m sure we`ll get along fine off the pitch,`` said Atherton. ``It`s going to be competitive while we`re on it. I`m big mates with Wasim, but we won`t be on the field.`` On the playing side, England have a few scores to settle. They have not beaten Pakistan in a Test series since Bob Willis` side triumphed in 1982. Pakistan have won the last four series between the two sides - 2-1, 1-0, 1-0 and 2-1. Source :: Daily News (http://www.lanka.net) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)