First Test, Trent Bridge: England v Pakistan
Dates: 29-July-2 August Start time: 1100 BST
Coverage: Live ball-by-ball Test Match Special commentary on BBC 5 live sports extra, BBC Radio 4 Long Wave and online; Live text commentary, daily reports and scorecard on BBC Sport website& mobiles; also live on Sky Sports

Paul Collingwood dismissed suggestions Pakistan have the best bowling attack in the world ahead of the first Test, which starts in Nottingham on Thursday.

Last week, Pakistan levelled their Test series against Australia 1-1 after skittling Ricky Ponting's side for 88 in the first innings at Headingley.

But Collingwood said England "can get on top of" Pakistan's bowlers.

"To say they are the number one bowling attack in the world is over the mark," said Collingwood.

"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.

"If we can get through those periods where it can be really tricky, I think we can get on top of them. They have played in conditions recently where it's done a fair bit."

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Teenager Mohammad Aamer and fellow seamers Mohammad Asif and Umar Gul exploited helpful first-day conditions in Leeds as Pakistan beat Australia by three wickets.

And with Danish Kaneria providing a high-class spin option, many believe Pakistan have all bases covered with the ball.

Left-arm swing bowler Aamer has already been compared with Pakistani great Wasim - including by the former captain himself - while Asif and Gul offer contrasting varieties of right-arm pace.

"They are a good outfit. Certainly, the bowling looks very strong," added Durham batsman Collingwood, who is back on Test duty for the four-match series after having to miss the early-season series against Bangladesh because of a shoulder injury.

"They have had conditions where it has swung around quite a bit - and obviously, they come at different angles.

When they're hot they're very, very hot. But when they're cold you can get on top of them Paul Collingwood

"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.

"I guess if Australia got those same conditions on the first day at Headingley they would have caused a lot of problems.

"Pakistan have got skill, and we are going to have to be very careful. But I still think we can handle what they are going to throw at us."

Collingwood also rejected the idea that Pakistan may start the series with an advantage, having already been in Test action over the past two weeks, while England have rested following one-day series against Bangladesh and Australia.

"I guess they'll be confident from their last game. That's their only advantage," he commented. "But we are very used, as cricketers now, to swapping from different forms of the game - so we should be ready for this first Test match.

"They are a team who are up and down in their performances. When they are hot they are very, very hot - a hard team to beat, with a lot of skill. But when they are cold you can get on top of them."

Collingwood did concede, however, that this winter's Ashes series was already in players' minds and that victory over Pakistan would provide valuable momentum.

He stated: "The Ashes is certainly in our minds, it would be daft to say it's not - the Ashes in Australia should be the highlight of your career, and then we've got the World Cup after that, so it's a huge winter.

"What we want to do as a group of players and as individuals is go into that Ashes series with the utmost confidence and to do that we need to win against Pakistan."

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