For the game at the WACA to be a contest, New Zealand's batsmen must master not only the Australian attack, but also a pitch of dubious quality.

The Western Australian Cricket Association, embarrassed when curator David Crane walked out a week ago, called in South Australia's much-respected groundsman, Les Burdett, to oversee final preparation.

Australia will see their wish of pollution-free cricket granted on their tour of India next year. Australia, who said they never wanted to play in the New Delhi smog again after losing a one-off Test there last year, will play India at Kanpur, Madras and Calcutta. But they will have to play in the Indian capital if they reach the final of a triangular tournament also involving Zimbabwe, in April.

India and Sri Lanka go into the first Test in Mohali today still groping to find the winning combination to tackle a ``result-oriented'' wicket.

The brownish strip at the Mohali stadium, with a patch of grass at one end and cracks at the other, is, according to groundsman Daljit Singh, guaranteed to produce a result on the fifth day.

Australia (from): *M A Taylor, M T G Elliott, G S Blewett, M E Waugh, S R Waugh, R T Ponting, -I A Healy, P R Reiffel, S K Warne, M S Kasprowicz, S H Cook, A J Bichel.

New Zealand (from): B A Young, B A Pocock, N J Astle, *S P Fleming, C D McMillan, C L Cairns, -A C Parore, C Z Harris, D L Vettori, S B Doull, G I Allott, M J Horne, H T Davis, S B O'Connor.