Mudassar Nazar Photo © CricInfo

A test match at Lord's is always a special affair. One can bump into at least a hundred former test cricketers from all over the world. An experience in itself It is the headquarters of world cricket in the real sense!

I am a little concerned about the Pakistan team going into this test match. They've had very limited match practice on this tour, and a couple of important players are injured or reportedly not match fit. Moreover, we missed out on a golden opportunity in the last game against Kent by not pulling out Saeed Anwar after he had completed his century, so that Faisal Iqbal and Younis Khan could gain further experience of English conditions by spending some time at the crease.

We are playing two tests in England this summer and one of the venues happens to be Old Trafford in Manchester. Having lived only a few miles down the road from Old Trafford for the past 26 years, I can claim to be an authority on Manchester's inclement weather. In fact, we were rescued by the weather in 1987 when faced with an uphill task. It rained non-stop for three days to wash out the game. So there is a strong possibility that whoever wins the match at Lord's would walk away with the series.

By the sound of it, Pakistan are still searching for a player to fill the one-down spot in their batting order. After the departure of Zaheer Abbas, only Ijaz Ahmed has had any degree of success in this position. In my opinion, the best batsman in the team should always bat at number three. Sir Don Bradman and Viv Richards are the shining examples. Both were by nature aggressive stroke players and once they had taken the initiative, oppositions were always left fighting an almost impossible task.

Since our best batsman, Inzamam-ul-Haq, has never shown any interest in filling this position we are left with a tricky situation of playing Faisal Iqbal or Younis Khan at number three. Both are inexperienced in test cricket, let alone the English conditions. Younis Khan is an extremely gifted young man but a little carefree. Faisal, on the other hand, has shown great courage and temperament recently but is still far from being a finished article.

England, by comparison, are much more balanced with an experienced opening pair especially, Mike Atherton. They have tasted a fair amount of recent success and are united behind Nasser Hussain. A lot of credit must also be attributed to coach Duncan Fletcher for his innovations and resurgence of Craig White as an all-rounder. It was a delight to watch Craig run in to bowl in Pakistan after stationing fielders at strategic places and fully exploit the art of reverse swing. The current mini-heatwave in England might encourage him as well as Caddick and Gough to use the same tactics as they so successfully did in Pakistan last winter. Their disciplined line and length were exemplary and they were in command throughout the series. If it were a five-match series, I certainly would have backed England to win, being a lot more organized.

However, this short series might help Pakistan in the end. There is always a chance of Saeed Anwar, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Yousuf Youhana clicking in an innings with help coming from the lower order batsmen. With a cushion of four hundred runs behind them Pakistan have enough firepower to bowl England out twice in a game.

I expect Wasim Akram to play a major role in the series. He certainly wants to prove that he has a great desire to keep playing for Pakistan and achieve his dream of securing five-hundred plus test-match wickets. Waqar Younis should bowl well in tandem with Wasim Akram, but it's after this duo when Pakistan run into trouble. Reports from England about Sami are not encouraging. It is really humiliating to be plagued by injuries so early in his career. However, we still expect him to be a great success in future.

Shoaib Akhtar certainly has not bowled enough overs under match conditions to ensure his fitness. Tour selectors will be taking a risk if they choose to play him sooner than he is ready, as there is a then a chance of losing him for the entire tour. It is a pity he has played so little cricket in the past 18 months. He is the only genuine quick bowler in the side who could rattle the English batsmen. I feel some senior players should have a chat with him, encouraging him into playing as much cricket as possible. We want a fit and happy Shoaib Akhtar and not an emotionally mixed and lonesome fast bowler.

All-rounder Azhar Mahmood may well be brought in to supplement the batting line up as well. But this does not leave us with much variety as Wasim, Waqar, Razzaq and Azhar bowl at more or less the same pace. Rashid Latif will certainly play, being the only wicket keeper in the squad.

It should be an exciting test match to watch and let us hope our team returns home united and victorious, as the nation eagerly wants.

Ed: Mudassar Nazar is a veteran of 76 tests and 122 ODIs. He is currently the chief coach of Pakistan's National and Regional Cricket Academies. In view of the overwhelming interest of users in CricInfo's articles, we have invited him to write for us.

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