Katich wary of Pakistan under captain Afridi

Australia's opener Simon Katich expects Pakistan's new captain Shahid Afridi to spark an improvement from his side when the teams meet for two Tests in England this month. The series comes barely six months after Pakistan's disastrous tour of Australia, when they lost 3-0 and the board subsequently dished out harsh penalties to a range of players.

The leader of that ill-fated trip, Mohammad Yousuf, retired from international cricket in the aftermath and although he might return later in the year, it won't be for this series. Instead, control of the Test team has been handed to Afridi, who led Pakistan at the end of their 5-0 ODI defeat in January and was banned for two Twenty20s for biting the ball in the final game at the WACA.

Last month Ricky Ponting said he was confident the Australians could "sort out" Afridi, who hasn't played a Test since 2006. However, despite Afridi's lack of success at the helm in Australia, Katich believes as captain he has the potential to energise Pakistan, who haven't beaten Australia in a Test since November 1995.

"When he took over in the one-day series they had a bit more direction on the field, with him in charge," Katich told Cricinfo. "They put in some good performances after that, even if they didn't win the games they were certainly more competitive. He'll bring an energy and enthusiasm to the job because that's the sort of player that he is. I think they've probably chosen wisely there."

The matches at Lord's and Headingley will be the first neutral Tests played in England since the triangular tournament of 1912 and it is hard to predict which side will appreciate the conditions more. Katich, who has been adjusting to the English summer during a stint with Lancashire, believes Pakistan's attack will enjoy the venues more than the harder surfaces in Australia last summer.

"Conditions here will probably suit them better than Australian conditions, given that they've got a couple of good spinners in Danish Kaneria and Saeed Ajmal," Katich said. "The wickets here generally this time of year, if the weather stays dry, they will spin. They will prefer the wickets here than in Australia, where the wickets didn't turn a huge amount. Some of their fast bowlers will as well, given that there's probably a bit more swing in England."

Katich, who is Australia's reigning Test Player of the Year, will link up with the squad ahead of next week's two-day tour match in Derby, where the group will also be joined by Test specialist Marcus North, the returning fast bowler Ben Hilfenhaus and the backup batsman Usman Khawaja. Australia will almost certainly have two debutants at Lord's, where Tim Paine will keep wicket and Steven Smith is likely to take the No. 1 spin role in the absence of the injured Nathan Hauritz.

The series gives the chance for Australia to test their depth ahead of the Ashes later this year, although they can now fine-tune their plans in the recently-announced two-Test tour of India in October. The trip was originally scheduled to include ODIs only, but Katich is pleased the Test players will have another opportunity to warm up before November's Ashes opener at the Gabba.

"I think we've got a pretty good balance because there are still a couple of Shield games before the Ashes start," Katich said. "That will give the guys plenty of time to acclimatise back to Australian conditions and it's probably good that we've got some more Test cricket to make sure we're in that mode leading in to what's a very important series."