Gilchrist expects a hell of a fight for the Ashes

SYDNEY - Australian cricket vice-captain Adam Gilchrist expects "one hell of a fight" for the Ashes after England's emphatic Test victory over Pakistan at Lord's.

England took 16 wickets on the fourth day - the first was washed out by rain - to humble the Pakistanis for 203 and 179 and win by an innings and nine runs.

Gilchrist went to bed last night knowing Pakistan had been forced to follow on but he expected the first match on the world Test championship rotation to last another day.

He was wrong, with England seamers Darren Gough and man-of-the-match Andy Caddick taking eight wickets apiece to spark a pitch invasion from a delighted Lord's crowd.

"We were getting the feeling over here, even before this, that England really had the wheels in motion and were going to give us one hell of a fight," Gilchrist said when told the result.

"Beating a good side like Pakistan in three days is, well, a fantastic effort whichever way you look at it, and it will give them a lot of confidence for the rest of the summer.

"It should be a very good, hard competitive series and we're looking forward to it."

Victory over two Tests against Pakistan would be England's fifth series win in a row while Australia, triumphant in the last seven Ashes battles, is cooling its heels after losing 2-1 in the Indian epic.

Gough, who took three wickets in four balls either side of lunch, took his Test tally to 205 and jumped past John Snow (202) into seventh on the all-time English bowling list.

Man-of-the-match Caddick moved the ball through the air and off the track from the outset.

The result of the battle between Gough and Caddick and Australian pace trio Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie and Brett Lee will go a long way to deciding the outcome of the Ashes.

"Vital," said Gilchrist.

"It's going to be a matter of who can keep their bowlers fit over what is a very long tour, and then get them peaking at the right times," Gilchrist said.

"Caddick and Gough can obviously make the most of the conditions over there, but so can our blokes."

Meanwhile, International Cricket Council headquarters at Lord's will be busy this week.

A three-day meeting starting Wednesday will determine whether technology should be increased, decreased or maintained, with Asian nations wanting video umpires to start ruling on bat-pad catches.

The use of lights in Tests - currently dependant on mutual agreement - will be discussed, as will the possible introduction of a panel of eight elite umpires to control the game worldwide.

Such a panel would most likely consist of Australian Darrell Hair, West Indians Eddie Nicholls and Steve Bucknor, New Zealander Doug Cowie, Sri Lankan Asoka de Silva, Indian Srinivasan Venkataraghavan and Englishmen Peter Willey and David Shepherd.

The interim report of the ICC's anti-corruption unit, headed by former London police chief Sir Paul Condon, will be released on the Internet on Wednesday, Australian time.