The wicket at the Edgbaston cricket ground, where India play England in a crucial World Cup qualifying game on Saturday, had the finest cricketing minds in a bind ---- unable to spell anything with any certainty. And where they did hazard a guess, it was hard to figure out whether the comments were genuine or motivated. There is plenty of psyching involved in a Cup match of such importance.

England opener Nick Knight, who captains the local Warwickshire side and who should know a thing or two about the wicket, said it would be a belter, but with uneven bounce later during the day.

England coach David Lloyd surmised there would be plenty of help for the bowlers and the side which wins the toss usually puts the opposition in.

"The playing wicketwas as green as one of those side pitches till they mowed it," Lloyd said, stamping his foot on the turf like a frisky horse. "It's going to be damp, there will be a cloud cover, and plenty of movement." He looked around, making sure the scribes were scribbling his comments and the cameras were rolling, and the words would perhaps be carried to the Indian camp.

The Indian camp arrived after lunch for a knock about and the first thing Javagal Srinath did was to walk up to the wicket and take a close look. It was dry and hard and coach Gaekwad thought it would be full of runs, the exact opposite of what coach Lloyd thought. A ploy to fool the Englishmen?

Truth is, no one has an idea how the wicket will behave. Past records on the ground show a very random pattern. There have been games with lot of runs, and games where wickets have fallen in a heap. India has played only one World Cup game on this ground ---- against West Indies in 1975, when only GR Viswanath stood up to Roberts and Holding to make 75 asthe champions thrashed Venkatraghavan and Co.

India also badly lost a Test match against England here in 1996 against an opening attack of Dominic Cork, Alan Mullally and Chris Lewis, despite Sachin Tendulkar's classy hundred in the second innings. The lesson, according to the cognoscenti here, is that class and discipline can get runs. India has the first in abundance, but needs to summon the second.

The Indian side meanwhile is writhing in a selectorial quandary with Nayan Mongia being declared fit and his name added to the eleven who played against Sri Lanka.

But who goes out? The choice is between S Ramesh, Debashis Mohanty and Robin Singh. The temptation to play the same Taunton eleven is great but the team management believes it is too risky to have Dravid keep wickets again in such a key game.

But the thinking also is that if Mongia returns ---- at the expense of Ramesh ---- he will not open the innings. Which means Sachin Tendulkar could be back in the opening slot, unless the hapless Jadejais asked to do the job.

That could introduce a new dimension to the contest, following remarks by English fast bowler Alan Mullally that may not have gone down very well with Tendulkar. Mullally told an English newspaper that although Tendulkar is a fine player, he does not go to bed thinking about him. Having not had a chance to stamp his imprimatur on the last game, the comment gives the combative Indian another reason to speak with his bat.

England may yet have to pay dearly.