There is plenty to ponder for the England hierarchy ahead of the first Test

By Jonathan Agnew BBC cricket correspondent

If either captain had any preconceived ideas about the make-up of his team for the first Test starting on Wednesday, they would have been put on hold after just one look at the pitch at Centurion.

Largely due to the continued wet weather in these parts, the strip was emerald green, with thick clumps of grass and it is sitting in the middle of a rough-looking square.

By the time practice had finished, and the groundsman had got his roller out, the pitch was drier, but neither Andrew Strauss or Graeme Smith has been able to finalise his selection on Tuesday.

It looks as if seam bowlers will rule, and since both teams look set to play only four bowlers in the game, there must be the thought of leaving out their spinner, but that is complicated by a forecast for dry and possibly very hot weather to come later in the week.

England have now confirmed that Jonathan Trott will bat at number three - the third batsman to be entrusted with that pivotal role this year.

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It seems to be the right decision to me - Trott seems to be a very calm and focussed individual who is in good form at the moment, and he will be looking to nail the position down after Ian Bell and Ravi Bopara both failed to make it their own.

Bell seems destined to bat at six, with Matt Prior at seven and Broad eight, leaving Strauss to pick three from Graeme Swann, James Anderson, Ryan Sidebottom and Graham Onions.

Jacques Kallis was seen bowling a few gentle overs in the nets, but will not bowl in this Test, which leaves South Africa looking a little exposed.

Kallis is expert at doing a holding job - plugging away tightly from one end and there is no-one else Smith can call upon to fulfil that role.

Makhaya Ntini, playing in his 100th Test, is the most experienced of the group, but time is starting to catch up with him and although Morne Morkel hits the bat hard and Dale Steyn is genuinely fast, South Africa's attack could concede runs too quickly for Smith's comfort.

The umpire's decision review system will be used for this series, although both captains sound less than thrilled about the prospect.

The International Cricket Council is determined to make this work, and has staged comprehensive briefings for the journalists and commentators here in an attempt to clarify what, with the introduction of predictive ball tracking, is becoming a very complicated system.

Everyone wants the umpiring decisions to be right, but there is widespread unease at the challenging of their authority and the interruptions to the flow of the game.

Surely this high profile series will be the review system's acid test.

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