LAHORE, Dec 1: Cricket great Wasim Akram on Wednesday tipped England to beat Australia in next year's Ashes series but warned that Pakistan faced a tough tour against the world champions.

Wasim, who holds the record for one-day wickets with 502, said England's "balanced" attack could cause problems for Australia. "For me England is the team which can beat Australia in next year's Ashes for they have a very balanced attack with Steve Harmison as spearhead and an aggressive all-rounder in Andrew Flintoff," Wasim said.

Wasim, who led Pakistan to a 3-0 defeat in their last tour of Australia in 1999, said the current team will also find it very difficult in their three-Test series starting in Perth on Dec 16.

"I think Pakistan's tour of Australia will be very tough and although Pakistan has always given tough time to Australia they will find the current tour tougher than expected," he said. He also called for spearhead bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Sami to make up for "lacklustre" recent performances with a good showing on the tour. -AFP