David Lloyd, the England coach, looked under the covers at the Oval wicket for the third Cornhill Test, starting tomorrow, and declared: ``Waqar will certainly not be displeased at what he sees. It is rock-hard, dry, white and bare.''

Waqar took eight wickets at Lord's in the first Test, where Pakistan went one up in the series. Now for the final game he is back in London - and back to the Surrey ground where he learnt many of his skills.

The Oval outfield is unusually lush for this time of year, though it is very scuffed in parts.

Lloyd, asked if this was the kind of pitch England wanted, said: ``We have no jurisdiction over any of the Test wickets. This one will have good pace and carry. It's a result wicket if the attackers bowl well.''

Lloyd said Alec Stewart would be left to decide whether he wanted to open the innings as well as keep wicket. ``If he keeps wicket for four or five sessions, then maybe he will want to rethink his game plan.

``We also want Nick Knight to go in thinking that he is opening the batting. That is the mental approach he must adopt so that he can meet any situation.''

Two spinners - Ian Salisbury and Glamorgan's Robert Croft is still a ``50-50'' option for England, according to Lloyd.And he defended the continued selection of Chris Lewis, saying: ``He is being given the chance to show consistency.''

Croft, 26, would be making his Test debut. He ad- mitted that after two A tours - the last in 1993 - he wondered whether he would catch the eye again.He said: ``When David Lloyd phoned me with the news I was very surprised.''