AT PESHAWAR in November Wasim Akram returned in triumph as Pakistan captain with a crushing win over West Indies. A week later, the world's most skilful fast bowler was in London to see a specialist about his shoulder (`Just a check-up. It's fine') and to take up our invitation to be WCM's latest expert guide to England's opponents. He follows Imran Khan on the 1996 Pakistanis, Sir Richard Hadlee on the New Zealanders and Bob Woolmer on the Australians. I thought a current player might be less candid in his opinions. It soon became clear that this wouldn't be a problem.

` THEY'RE STILL hard to beat, especially at home. But they are not as good as they were. England have a good chance, as long as they play to win. You have to attack, you have to be confident.

It's hot out there so Athers should give the bowlers short spells, no more than four or five overs. If you bowl eight overs with the new ball, either you give it everything and you have no energy to come back later in the day, or you hold yourself back. Either way it's a bad idea.

It's easier to give the bowlers short spells if you have five of them. We played five bowlers in the First Test and it worked. Moin [Khan, the wicketkeeper] batted at No. 6 and got runs. Jack Russell can do that just as well.

The pitches are slower than they were. Barbados has nice high bounce but the others are slow and flat. Port-of-Spain swings early on but after the first two hours it flattens out and from the third day it usually turns.

 Tufnell will be a key player. I was saying to Athers after the Second Test of the Ashes series, why are you playing Croft ahead of Tufnell? Croft's not a bad bowler, but the batsmen can handle him. He's turning it into them and not getting wickets, whereas Tufnell is the best slow bowler in the country. He'll bowl 30 overs and take 6 for 70, when Croft has 2 for 60. You have to pick the one who will take wickets.

By all means play Croft as well if the pitch is going to turn. If they've decided against five bowlers and it's a turning pitch, they should be prepared to play two spinners and two quicks – the spinners will bowl long spells, so that's not a problem for the fast bowlers.

They should have taken Ben Hollioake. If he had been a Pakistani, he would have been playing for two years by now. His brother is a good one-day player, he may be worth a Test place as a batsman, but Ben has the ability to be a really good Test player, a real all-rounder. Sure, his bowling is not great but he will only learn from doing it, being out there in the middle. He's tall, he swings it, and when his body develops he will put on pace. He should be batting at eight and coming on as third seamer.

If Ben Hollioake had been a Pakistani, he would have been playing for two years by now

MAN BY MAN

 Stuart Williams

A back-foot player who loves to attack. Makes most of his runs with the cut, and when he drives it's off the back foot, in the Caribbean style. So you pitch it up to him and swing it in. Gough will be the one to get him.   Sherwin Campbell A good player, not easy to get out. But he's a back-foot player too, and he loves to cut and pull or hook. That's his weakness – he can't resist the hook, even if you put a man out for the catch at square leg. So you bounce him.   Middle order Shivnarine Chanderpaul   

 Shivnarine Chanderpaul

A very good player who's been out of form lately. His temperament is excellent, better than his technique. He can bat for hours, but he doesn't dominate and he has a problem with shuffling too far across his stumps. He's a left-hander and I've seen him get bowled round his legs three times, because he's shuffled so far across. So you bowl straight at him, from round the wicket if it's a right-arm bowler, and bring it back into him just a touch. Caddick or Fraser will be able to do that. He loves to cut too, and he's got a good eye. Also an exceptional fielder, at point or cover.   Brian Lara A great player, of course, but sometimes too keen to dominate. You need two gullies for him, and two slips, with a gap in between to tempt him into this [mimes dinky dab shot]. I got him caught at gully by Mushy in the first innings at Peshawar. It wasn't a slower ball as some people said, but a little bit wide and full, and he went for it. In the second innings he was on 36 overnight and he was dropped at gully from the first ball I bowled the next day. And then we got him lbw. He does give you a chance. If he gets in, you have to be very disciplined, bowl one side of the wicket or the other, and wait for the mistake. I wouldn't put a man back at wide third man for him, because then you're not tempting him into that square drive.

I think he should be captain. Courtney Walsh is a very nice guy and a fine bowler but Lara has got such confidence, and that would rub off on the whole team. That's what they lack at the moment: confidence as a team. People say Lara's irresponsible but, if you give him responsibility, then that side of him will be channelled for the good of the team.   Carl Hooper A very talented player, one of the best in the world on paper. I don't like bowling to him, because he's got all the shots, front foot, back foot, and he plays very straight. But he doesn't have the consistency – he gets 20 and then his concentration will go.

He's a great slip fielder and I'm more and more impressed with his bowling. Doesn't turn it much but he's very accurate and has a nice drift, like an outswing bowler. At Peshawar I was looking for the turn away from the left-hander, but it kept looping into me, and he got me stumped. He has a very good quicker ball, a fast yorker. But the England batsmen should be able to handle him. You have to milk him, take the singles.

SPOT THE BATSMAN

He only has one shot – straight up in the air. His feet are all over the place so you swing it into him, full length   Phil Simmons Another one who has been out of form. Mushy got him in both innings at Peshawar, for 1 and 1. He didn't seem to read the googly, and in the second innings he carved it to me in the covers. He won't have to deal with legspin against England, and he did very well for Leicester when they won the Championship. But he has never really made runs at Test level, and he isn't much of a bowler on slow wickets like in Pakistan or West Indies. Under pressure for his place from Roland Holder.   Wicketkeeper David Williams   

 David Williams

They've changed keepers a few times recently, with Junior Murray and Courtney Browne. I think Williams is their best keeper. He's a short guy and he just looks like a keeper. He takes the ball nice and soft and although he's more used to the quicks he seemed to have no trouble with legspin at Peshawar. Not a great batsman – he got a few runs but he was playing and missing, playing and missing all the time.   Spinner Rawl Lewis   

 Rawl Lewis

Peshawar was his first Test, and it's always hard for a leg-spinner against Pakistan or India. He turned it a bit, but in every over there seemed to be one full-toss or short ball, and Moin and Inzamam were smacking them away. I didn't see him bowl a flipper; maybe he'll learn it. He's not much of a batsman – he drove Mushy straight for four and then straight away he tried it again and was bowled by the googly. Then in the second innings he played no shot to my inswinger and was leg-before. I wouldn't say he was a No. 8 – more a No. 9 or 10.   Fast bowlers lan Bishop From the figures it might look as if he's not as good as he used to be, and it's true that he gave us a few half-volleys. Since his injury he's more of a third seamer. But he still has pace and a bit of swing and you have to treat him with respect, especially on a bouncy pitch. Not a bad batsman either: he got two 20s at Peshawar, he plays straight and he knows how to hang around.   Curtly Ambrose A great bowler, but he doesn't like a low, slow pitch. At Peshawar he just seemed to be putting it there. When he's fired up he's a top-class bowler, very awkward with his height, moves it off the seam and can be as quick as anyone. As a batsman he only has one shot, a straight drive which he likes to play back over the bowler's head, fast or slow, it doesn't matter.   Courtney Walsh Their best bowler at the moment. He may be 35 but I don't see him dropping his pace at all: at Peshawar he was the quickest of the three. He keeps going all day, has a good yorker and his bouncer follows the right-hander. As a batsman, he's good to bowl at. He has one shot too – straight up in the air. His feet are all over the place so you swing it into him, full length.   Franklyn Rose They didn't pick him at Peshawar because they wanted the spinner, which was probably right. But I like the look of him. He's about the same pace as the others, and tall like them. He goes wide of the crease and moves it away just a touch, which is all you need to make the batsman unsure whether to play it.'

 Mervyn Dillon is a young fast bowler from Trinidad who was spotted by Malcolm Marshall during West Indies' 1995 tour of England. He's tall, like Walsh, and has the same languid sort of action. Still pretty raw at Test level, though. Roland Holder and Jimmy Adams are competing for the problem No. 6 spot. Holder hit 91 against India in his Second Test but, at 29, he may have missed his best chance of becoming a regular. Adams still has in absurdly high Test average, but he's lost form and confidence, and only a superb start in the Red Stripe Cup is likely to bring him back into contention.

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