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Lancashire's Dav Whatmore was due at Lord's today to try to convince England chiefs that he is the right man to take over from David Lloyd.

Whatmore is one of three coaches being interviewed by a six man panel - the others are Duncan Fletcher and Jack Birkenshaw. A fourth, Bob Woolmer, will be seen next week.

Fletcher, the former Zimbabwe captain and now with Glamorgan, is the hot favourite. He is viewed not only as a good coach, but as a hard man who will not stand any messing about in the dressing room.

Birkenshaw has taken Leicester to the county championship twice in the last three years and would be the choice of Lloyd, whose three years reign came to an end with England's World Cup exit.

Woolmer, aiming to take South Africa to the World Cup final, was the original favourite for the job, but England have cooled on him because of his reluctance to take over immediately. He claims he needs a rest from international cricket.

Whatmore will underline his credentials as a fully-qualified coach with a tough Australian background and his experience in taking Sri Lanka to World Cup success in 1996 and in establishing them as a Test force.

And, after two and a half seasons with Lancashire, he now has considerable knowledge of the English set-up.

Whatmore was with Lancashire at the Foster's Oval today for their clash with table topping Surrey with Mike Atherton hoping to make his comeback.