KARACHI, July 3: Pakistan captain Inzamamul Haq on Sunday said he would keep a close eye on the upcoming Ashes series to gauge England’s form ahead of their cricket tour here.

England’s five-Test Ashes series with Australia begins on July 21 and England will travel to Pakistan for three Tests and five one-day games from October to December.

“I am anxiously waiting for the Ashes to begin. England playing Australia will give us a chance to gauge England’s weak and strong points before we play them in three months’ time,” Inzamam said.

The Pakistan captain said England were the most improved side of the past 12 months and would give world number one Australia a tough battle in the showpiece series.

“They (England) have improved a lot and would give Australia a tough fight in the Ashes and we have to keep a close look on them if we want to achieve better results against them,” he said.

“I believe that my young team can improve if we play with tough teams like England. We lost badly to Australia earlier this year but we fared better against India and the West Indies later.”

Pakistan have drawn 1-1 in both the West Indies and arch-rival India after being whitewashed 3-0 Australia early in the year.

Inzamam said Pakistan’s strength lay in its speed bowling and that he would not pack the team with spinners, which was blamed for Pakistan’s first home defeat to England in 39 years in 2000.

“I don’t believe in packing the team with spinners. Fast bowlers have been our strength and if they are fully fit I will go with the fast bowlers,” he said.

“Currently fitness of fast bowlers is our main worry but I hope they all get fit in three months to give us the best arsenal against England.”

Fast bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Sami both missed the Caribbean tour through injury while Shabbir Ahmed is waiting for the International Cricket Council to clear his suspect action.

England’s tour programme is likely to be finalised later this week following a visit by England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) officials to Pakistan after expert security checks last week.

The ECB had expressed reservations about playing a Test in Karachi, which has been plagued by terrorist attacks and ethnic violence.—AFP