Two good, tough cricket sides preparing to battle head on in a test of supremacy that began two months ago on Indian wickets, and now readies to transfer to the faster, bouncier tracks of South Africa.

And yet the most important person right now is a former Derbyshire pro by the name of Phil Russell - an unremarkable, unremarked cricketer in his playing days, and for the last five to six years the man who has been in charge of the pitches and ground at Kingsmead, Durban.

It is Russell who has been in charge of preparing the wicket for the first Test between the two sides, which will kick off on December 26. And he promises that the surface will be 'fair', with bounce and pace, a bit of grass to assist seam bowling early on and with enough 'bite' in the surface to aid spinners as the game goes on.

Durban does have the reputation of being something of a fast track, and yet, interestingly, in the period following South Africa's re-entry into Test cricket five years ago, only one game has produced a result on this surface - the Test between New Zealand and South Africa, which ended in a win for the home side.

This time round, however, indications are that we could be in for a result-oriented track, if Russell's prognosis is anything to go by.

Intriguing, too, will be the behaviour of the tide - for at the high water mark, there is a tendency for the water table beneath the ground to rise, and at that time seam bowlers traditionally come into their own.

Add to this the rain that has been following the Indian tourists around. If conditions are overcast, then the swing bowlers are going to benefit to a considerable extent.

So where does this leave the two sides?

Given that neither team has indicated its playing eleven, prognostication could be a shade premature. However, one thing is a given - the battle will be between the quick bowlers of either side and the opposing batsmen.

The nature of the contest, though, will vary through the match. Thus, when South Africa bats, the emphasis is likely to be more on swing and seam movement produced by the Indian fast bowlers Javagal Srinath, Venkatesh Prasad and either David Johnson or D Ganesh. While the Indian batsmen will have to contend with the pace and bounce of Donald, Klusener and Pollock.

With both sides evenly matched in the bowling department, the onus falls squarely on the respective batting lineups. And the temptation is to give the palm to the tourists - if only because four of the frontline batsmen, Saurav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Mohammad Azharuddin and Sachin Tendulkar, are in prime form while, for the hosts, no single batsmen barring Garry Kirsten has looked in consistely good touch during the recent series in India.

The composition of the Indian team will, of course, be the subject of intense speculation in the 48 hours leading up to the match. And the temptation to add my own two bits to the debate being irresistible, I'll succumb. Let's see how this lineup looks, shall we?

In batting order: W V Raman, Rahul Dravid, Saurav Ganguly, Mohammad Azharuddin, Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble, Nayan Mongia, D Ganesh, Javagal Srinath, Venkatesh Prasad and David Johnson.

First off, the opener's slot. The reason why I argue the case for Dravid opening is two-fold. One, Mongia for all his grit and determination is not technically equipped to face South African quicks on the fast Durban wicket. The Indian keeper's strokeplay is totally legside oriented, and Donald and company are liable to winkle him out with a short square leg and a leg slip, the ball angled into the body and climbing, forcing the uppish defensive jab on the leg side.

Risking an early wicket, therefore, does not make sense - and this is why the combination of the left-handed Raman and the right-handed Dravid appears ideal. Dravid is easily the most technically assured of Indian batsmen today, while Raman's fluency in driving through the off provides the ideal foil.

Ganguly has been making runs in the one-drop slot, and though handling Donald and Pollock, in particular, on the Durban track is liable to test the southpaw's abilities sorely especially when dealing with the ball angling into his body, the Indian batsman has shown in the tour opener that he is prepared to take a knock or two and keep fighting.

Azharuddin at four is, again, a natural - and the Indian think tank would do well to allow the former skipper to play his natural, free-scoring game. With his new, open stance, Azhar is likely to go for his shots, hitting on the up on both sides of the wicket as he did in his last three Test innings. And this new technique could make all the difference, as it permits Azhar to play strokes more freely on the up and thus combat the quicks.

Tendulkar is obviously low-placed at five, but then again, his coming in at that stage gives the side the advantage of having India's best batsman at one end to guide the latter half of the innings.

I have pushed Kumble ahead of Mongia in the batting order because of late, the Indian deputy skipper has been showing not only a vastly improved technique, but also the temperament, and the application, needed to hang in there and make runs. The vice cap- tain is a combative player, and chances are he will thrive when given the added responsibility of filling the all-rounder's slot in the side.

Mongia at seven comes in at his natural slot, and Ganesh - the best batsmen among the tail-enders - is obvious number eight material, followed by Srinath, Johnson and Prasad.

In this lineup, the batting in effect goes down to the number nine slot, while the four quicks are the obvious answer to the fast pitch the team will encounter at Kingsmead.

It could, of course, be said that the bowling lacks the variety of an additional spinner - but that is to forget the presence in the side of Woorkeri Raman, who started out as a left-arm spinner who could bat a bit and who, even now, bowls a good line and length, has control over flight and can get the ball to bite and turn in friendly conditions. With the medium pace of Saurav Ganguly used as backup, especially when the conditions aid swing and seam, India will in effect go in with five regular bowlers and two part-timers who are capable of chipping in with the odd wicket - and that appears to be as balanced an attack as you can get.

This lineup, of course, pertains only to the first Test. And the piece is not complete without answering the unasked question what, then, of Vikram Rathore.

I suspect that Rathore will have to sit this one out, for two reasons. As he demonstrated during his two innings against Eastern Province, the layoff from international cricket hasn't helped him iron out his technical deficiencies - even today, his shuffle across the stumps is more in the nature of a walkabout, leaving middle and leg totally exposed and, in the process, opening him up for not only the yorker but also the ball on off that seams away from him.

And if this were not reason enough to leave Rathore out of the playing eleven, there is this - he just does not have a place in the eleven. He is not a good enough opener to add beef to the lineup, and bringing him in means that the team will need to sacrifice either Dravid or Ganguly in the middle order, which is just not on, or go in with just four bowlers, which could mean that the attack becomes too enfeebled to bowl the opposing side out twice within the space of five days.

Be interesting, won't it, to see just what lineup the Indian think tank actually puts together on the day, and to monitor its performance over the five days beginning December 26?

One thing is for sure - the contest, especially the first Test, is liable to prove very, very interesting. Tendulkar will go out there wanting to prove that he is a winning captain abroad, as he has proved to be on home soil. And Hansie Cronje will want to wipe out the ignominy of a 2-1 defeat in the recent series on Indian soil, and start getting a bit of his own back - the rain gods permitting...