LAHORE — Pakistan coach Waqar Younis Sunday said his side was “settled” and confident ahead of its upcoming series against a buoyant Ashes-winning England team. Pakistan will face England in the first of three Tests in Abu Dhabi from Oct. 13 with Pakistani hopes high after its 3-0 rout against the same opponent three years ago. Then, as now, England entered the contest having vanquished its arch-foe Australia, its most recent contest ending in a 3-2 scoreline for the host. But former paceman Waqar said his fourth-ranked team had been consistent in the game's longer format and stood up well to third-placed England. “I think recently we played a Test series in Sri Lanka and from that result I will not hesitate to say that we are a good Test side,” Waqar told media during a training camp. Pakistan beat Sri Lanka 2-1, Bangladesh 1-0, Australia 2-0 and finished 1-1 against New Zealand in their last four Test series. “Our batting has done well for the last one year or so and even before that we played Australia and New Zealand we did well, but we will not take England lightly and for that we need to play with the same passion,” he said. Waqar praised the Ashes winners but singled out leg-spinner Yasir Shah, who took 22 wickets in Sri Lanka, as a key player for the series. Before taking on England, Pakistan will tour Zimbabwe where it will play two Twenty20 and three ODI matches from Sept. 27 to Oct. 5. Sriram to help Australia Australia has employed former India all-rounder Sridharan Sriram as a coaching consultant to help with its troubles playing spin bowling in the leadup to its tour of Bangladesh. A left-hand batsman and left-arm spinner, 39-year-old Sriram played eight One-Day Internationals from 2000-04 but made his biggest mark in domestic cricket as a prolific run-maker for Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. An assistant coach in India's domestic Twenty20 competition, Sriram worked with Australia A during its recent tour of India and will be retained to help Steven Smith's side prepare for next month's two-Test series against Bangladesh, Cricket Australia said its website. — Agencies
