Just three weeks ago, it seemed foolhardy to imagine that the Third Test between Australia and South Africa at the Sydney Cricket Ground would be a dead rubber.

Yet the world's battle of the titans has become titanically disappointing. And, if the tourists fail to show some more starch in this Test, then it's close to a certainty that the impending return series in South Africa will be feted with nothing like the same hype.

The South Africans arrived on Australian soil a month ago ready to make history. All evidence in a 246-run loss in Adelaide and a nine-wicket defeat in Melbourne, though, has been of a team that has doubted its own ability to do so.

After two morale-sapping defeats, and amid a flurry of changes to the composition of the squad, urgent restoration of their reputation is required.

How, then, to go about the task? The most obvious method lies in changes in personnel, and it's already a guarantee that there will be at least one alteration to the eleven that played in Melbourne. All-rounder Lance Klusener, at possibly the lowest ebb in his 48-match Test career, has returned home to be with his pregnant wife and to be in a place where he can better repair flagging confidence.

Jacques Rudolph, an exciting young left handed batsman and developing leg spinner, is accordingly almost certain to make his Test debut. Rudolph, a 20-year-old from Northerns, has already won wide acclaim in South Africa with his early performances at first-class level; has looked solid in his two first-class appearances on this tour; and is unlikely to let his team down.

Having been called in on an urgent SOS mission from South Africa, left arm spinner Nicky Boje will also come strongly into contention for a spot in a re-jigged bowling line-up.

Sydney was a happy hunting-ground eight years ago, yielding one of the country's greatest-ever Test victories. And, though there's nothing remotely pleasant in the return of bushfires across the New South Wales capital, the sight of a pall of haze and smoke across the city's skyline gives an eerily similar feel to the one that predominated back then.

Then as now, temperatures have been in the mid to high 30s consistently over recent weeks.

Even the pitch might carry something of a look of familiarity about it to those who remember that game. Just as it did then, a well-grassed surface offers the suspicion that the quicker bowlers might be suited as much as the spinners the further the match progresses. Albeit that it's difficult to envisage a pitch that won't offer help to the slow men, it may not be as conducive as has been widely assumed.

The Australians haven't had too much to worry themselves about lately, but the track's complexion is such that it even offers them some selection headaches.

Their 13-man squad needs to be pruned back by two within half an hour of the start of the play, and all indications are that the decision might genuinely be left until as late as then. Fast bowlers Andy Bichel and Brad Williams are the men considered most likely to miss out but leg spinner Stuart MacGill's place is also suddenly under question.

MacGill is a world class bowler; the SCG is his home ground; and he has claimed 19 wickets in his two Tests at the venue. But Bichel's excellent performance in Melbourne and the visage of the pitch cast MacGill's selection in doubt. Interestingly, first-choice Australian leg spinner Shane Warne - who has been one of the keys to Australia's domination of the series - has also been well below his best in the five previous Tests in which he and MacGill have been joined.

That said, the Australians' ability to work together as a team has been one of the hallmarks of their success in recent times. Whoever plays, whoever misses out, and whoever is forced to carry the (greater-than-normal number of) drinks, it doesn't seem unreasonable to expect another highly efficient performance.

They might be labelled as old, aging, and ready to cede to new blood. But, even as the calendar moves apace to another year, the Australians only seem to be getting better with time.

© 2002 CricInfo Ltd