THERE was much consternation about the preparation of the pitch for this fourth Cornhill Test, but you certainly couldn't say that about the players.

With England's three-day camp, Australia's strategic use of their warm-up county matches, and the monitoring of practically every blood vessel and capillary on show, the only doubt is whether 22 cricketers have ever turned up for a match more meticulously prepared.

A short, stocky man with hair like a miniature bushfire supervises the Aussies' health and fitness. 'Tattoo' they call him because of the blue scrawls all over his body, one of which depicts a boxing kangaroo brandishing a fist at a timorous Springbok.

``I had it done after we won the series in Port Elizabeth,'' Tattoo, real name Steve Smith, says proudly. Perhaps after this game, he'll get a moth-eaten lion added to the scene.

Previously a diver in the Australian navy, Smith is now the team trainer, attending to everything from diet to body dynamics, keeping dossiers on VO2 levels and resting pulses, checking every ground and hotel for food quality and gym facilites.

``I make sure all our bowlers loosen up in the hotel pool before breakfast and stretch off there after play. Jason Gillespie's particularly keen in this area, but the others are catching on,'' he says.

Tattoo varies the morning warm-ups, one day organising a squad volleyball match, alternating that with football and touch rugby or yesterday's sprint relays. Once play has started he goes off to order the lunches.

``I regularly measure everyone's fat percentage and skin folds and keep a careful eye on what the lads eat,'' he says. ``Most of the grounds here have made quite an effort, and Glamorgan was fantastic, with signs on the walls saying low-fat this and special that.''

England are not lagging behind in the scientific department. Dean Riddle, a New Zealand trainer formerly with Leeds RLFC, is now a permanent part of their squad and is to be seen every morning before play laying out a maze of plastic cones as if for a cycling proficiency test.

This might be for a game of 'bounce passing' as a prelude to jogging on the 'footwork ladder' - a canvas contraption with plastic rungs designed to improve movement and balance.

``The main aim is to improve muscle conditioning and create a more rounded base of fitness,'' Riddle says, ``but to keep it varied with different emphases depending on their mood and the match.'' Trevor Lee, nutritionist for Manchester United, attends the first day of every Test to measure body fat and check the menus.

And lurking in a cubby hole beneath the dressing rooms is Nick Slade, a sports scientist graduate, sitting by a video console tapping on what looks like the coloured keyboard of a check-out till. In fact he is taping the entire day's play and logging the precise details of every delivery on computer. Almost immediately he can then produce copies of players' innings or bowling spells to view in the dressing-room.

Alec Stewart is the most consistent user of this £15,000 ECB-purchased facility (Australian-conceived, of course) more for his wicketkeeping than batting. He likes to analyse his diving technique and the way he deals with balls not carrying. This new technology is also a huge help to his coach, Alan Knott.

``Alan spent two days at home videoing Alec's keeping at Edgbaston and was astonished to find I could programme the computer to do the same thing in a couple of minutes,'' Slade said. ``We use it to look at where the Australians score their runs [everywhere] and most of our guys like to have a record of their innings.''

After this match, some hope he accidentally recorded the wrong channel.