Shaun Pollock predicted, on setting foot in England, that South Africa would win the one-dayers but lose the Tests.

Having got the first part of that forecast spectacularly wrong, captain Graeme Smith and the rest of his team will be hoping Pollock proves equally inaccurate during the five-match Test series starting on Thursday.

The teams look so closely matched that the contest may depend in large measure on Pollock himself -- and his availability -- as well as that of Jacques Kallis.

Both are established, world-class performers in young teams.

Both also seem set to miss at least one match, for contrasting reasons. Kallis's father is gravely ill with cancer, while Pollock's wife is expecting a baby.

The fast bowler looks set to fly home during the fourth Test, leaving an already suspect attack short of a cutting edge.

Kallis, meanwhile, is already at his father's side. He has been ruled out of the first match at Edgbaston and is not sure when he will return.

"It might be a week, it might be a month," team media manager Gerald de Kock said. "He's not in our plans for the first Test at least."

LACK OF BALANCE

Kallis is one of the world's leading all rounders as well as South Africa's in-form batsman. He hit back-to-back centuries in the one-day triangular series against England and Zimbabwe, dedicating those innings to his father before closing the tournament with an average of 109.66.

His absence will leave the tourists struggling for balance. Much may depend on the returning Gary Kirsten near the top of the order.

Lack of balance has been an English problem over recent years.

The gradual emergence of Andrew Flintoff, however, the man of the series during the one-dayers, as well as the return of well-wrinkled wicketkeeper Alec Stewart -- Test batting average 40.19 -- give England a more assured look.

Nasser Hussain and Mark Butcher are also back to bolster the middle order.

If the enthusiastic England one-day side under Michael Vaughan was all about experimentation and youth, Hussain's is a more prosaic line-up, selected with the present firmly in mind.

Forget about building for the future, this team is built to win today.

While young tearaways James Anderson and Steve Harmison seem sure to set South African pulses racing, the rest of the selection is steadily conservative, with the never-say-die Darren Gough back for his first Test for almost two years.

Anthony McGrath, so obdurate in his first Test knocks against Zimbabwe, is preferred, for now at least, to the class of Graham Thorpe.

CAPTAINS' SUB-PLOT

For those seeking a sub-plot, Edgbaston will throw up an intriguing contest between rival captains Hussain and Smith.

Both men have much to prove.

Smith, refreshingly bold in deed and word -- he said South Africa could "really dominate" England in the one-dayers only for his team to lose three of their four meetings and be skittled for a record low 107 in the final -- will want to turn promise into performance.

The 22-year-old left-hander is right at the start of his career, with only 10 appearances.

He is also seeking to make a first mark on foreign soil. He boasts a 200 against Bangladesh and 151 against Pakistan but has not yet reached 20 outside South Africa.

The 35-year-old Hussain, meanwhile, may be nearing the end of his career faster than he would like.

Vaughan's one-day success has prompted speculation that he could soon be ready to lead the Test side as well.

The tenacious Hussain, whose work in rebuilding English morale has been reflected in 17 Test wins as captain, just three short of the England record, has no wish to depart just yet.

Shorn of the captaincy, though, he could not be guaranteed a batting slot.

A win against the second-ranked side in the world, however, -- and Hussain believes "South Africa are there for the taking" -- would strengthen his hand.