Collingwood confident of combating Pakistan attack

Paul Collingwood has attempted to play down the hype surrounding Pakistan's bowling attack ahead of the four-match series which begins at Trent Bridge on Thursday. The performances of Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer in particular against Australia suggest England will be in for a tough challenge over the next four weeks in what is their last Test action before the Ashes.

Salman Butt, the Pakistan captain, has said his new-ball pair are the best in the world and when they are supplemented by Umar Gul and Danish Kaniera they are certainly a potent combination. But Collingwood, who was rested from the series against Bangladesh earlier in the season, doesn't buy into those sorts of judgments although he is well aware that England's batsmen can't afford to be off their game.

Since completing the Test series against South Africa in January - where the express pace of Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel was too much handle at the Wanderers as the hosts leveled the series - England have played four Tests against Bangladesh who, despite making them toil at times for victory, didn't pose anything like the threat of what they are about to face.

"I don't want to go overboard on 'these guys are the best thing since sliced bread' - or Wasim Akram, or this, that and the other," Collingwood told reporters at Loughborough. "If we can get through those periods where it can be really tricky, I think we can get on top of them.

"I think they have got a lot of talent. But to say they're the number one bowling attack in the world I would say was over the mark. They have come up in conditions recently where it's done a fair bit.

"They're a good outfit. Certainly, the bowling looks very strong," he added. "They have had conditions where it has swung around quite a bit - and obviously, they come at different angles. There is a lot for us to think about there. But at the same time, we've got a lot of strengths like that ourselves with the way we swing the ball."

The performance that made everyone really sit up and take notice was when Pakistan skittled Australia for 88 on the opening day at Headingley to set up their series-leveling three-wicket victory. Ricky Ponting had the chance to give his attack first use of the conditions yet gambled on batting first, but Collingwood believes Australia's attack would have caused similar damage.

"I guess if they [Australia] got those same conditions on the first day they would have caused a lot of problems," he said. "Pakistan have got skill, and we're going to have to be very careful. But I still think we can handle what they're going to throw at us."

How England cope against Pakistan's bowling will provide a good gauge of where they stand in preparation for the Ashes at the end of November. They have made steady progression over the last 12 months - winning the Ashes last summer and drawing in South Africa - but they will want to board the plane to Australia on the back of a strong performance in this series.

"Everybody in the team is very confident that we can do it this time round," Collingwood said. "That's genuine confidence. We've had a good 18 months. We've had the building blocks, continued to grow and get things right.

"I think we're ready. It really has come at a time when we can say we'll be as ready as we can ever be. We've just got to make sure in these next two months we continue in that same manner."