Waugh, playing in his farewell Test series after announcing his retirement last week, said he wanted balance in his bowling attack, which is without injured Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee, and that he was leaning towards MacGill.

"In a Test match side you probably want some balance there and if you've got a quality spinner, you would be unlikely to leave him out. I would probably think it would be three quicks and one spinner," Waugh said on Wednesday. "There's an option of playing four quicks, but I think that's doubtful."

That means either West Australian speedster Brad Williams or New South Wales' left-armer Nathan Bracken will be the 12th man when the eleven is finalised.

The fast bowlers were licking their lips in anticipation of cutting loose on a greenish pitch, which is expected to give bounce and movement in steamy conditions.

But 32-year-old MacGill, who has stepped up admirably to replace Shane Warne as the first-choice leg-spinner serves a 12-month doping ban, has snared seven wickets in two Gabba Tests and is expected to get assistance as the moist pitch gets cut up during the Test's five days.

"There's definitely some grass there, but it's dry underneath as well," Waugh said. "Whoever bats first, it will be testing early conditions, but if you get through that you can set the game up, it really depends if you back yourself or not.

"I think it will turn, if there is any moisture in a wicket it tends to dig up with the spikes and you get more turn than a dry pitch sometimes. If you're a good quality bowler you'll make most of the conditions."

MacGill offers variety to Australia's bowling attack and he has taken 133 wickets in 26 Tests, including nine hauls of five wickets or more in an innings.

Indian skipper Saurav Ganguly suggested his side would be going into the first Test with just one recognised spinner, either Anil Kumble or Harbhajan Singh.

"We have options, but looking at the history of the Gabba, it looks difficult to pick both spinners. I don't think it's going to assist the spinners much, but we'll have to see what happens tomorrow morning," Ganguly said.

Australia have a formidable record at the Gabba, where they have won 10 of their last 14 Tests and drawn the other four.

Waugh is anxious to zero in on the Indians from ball one on Thursday.

"It is important to get off on the right foot," Waugh said. "Generally, if you win the first session, you win the first day and you win the first Test. And if you win the first Test you normally win the series, so it is pretty important.

"We must be sharp and ready to go and we're all positive. Nice and relaxed but really focused for that first session."

Ganguly knows Australians love to exploit the first-day conditions at the traditionally seam-friendly Gabba but believes day one, and the toss, will have minimal impact on the rest of the four-match series.

"If you look through the record of tosses at the Gabba, there are times when Stephen (Waugh) has won the toss, put the opposition in and won the Test match," he said.

"But it's how good you play over the whole five days of the Test match ... I don't think the toss makes a difference."

Australia have won eight of the past 12 tosses and elected to bat four times.

Each time Australia have opted to bowl first they have won, including a crushing 10-wicket victory over India the last time they played in Brisbane in 1991-92.

TEAMS

AUSTRALIA: Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, Ricky Ponting (vice-captain), Stephen Waugh (captain), Damien Martyn, Simon Katich, Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Bichel, Jason Gillespie, Stuart MacGill, Nathan Bracken, Brad Williams (12th man to be named).

INDIA (from): Saurav Ganguly (captain), Rahul Dravid (vice-captain), Akash Chopra, Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Venkatsai Laxman, Sadagoppan Ramesh, Zaheer Khan, Ajit Agarkar, Ashish Nehra, Irfan Pathan, Laxmipathy Balaji, Harbhajan Singh, Anil Kumble, Parthiv Patel, Deep Dasgupta.

Umpires: Rudi Koertzen (South Africa) Steve Bucknor (West Indies).

FACTBOX

Reuters, Brisbane

Factbox for Australia versus India first Test starting at the Gabba on Thursday:

HEAD-TO-HEADS

Australia and India first played each other in 1947-48 with Australia winning their first five-match series 4-0. They have since met 60 times with Australia winning 29, India 13, 17 matches draw and one tied.

Home ground advantage plays a big part in Australia-India matches. While India haven't lost a series at home to Australia since 1969-70, they have only ever won three Tests in Australia.

India won their most recent series, 2-1 in India two years ago, but were beaten 3-0 when they last toured Australia four seasons ago.

RECENT FORM

Australia have not lost a series at home to any nation in over a decade. They have won eight of their last 10 series, home and away. They warmed up for the Ashes with a 2-0 clean sweep at home to Zimbabwe. India have won just three of their last 10 series, those wins all at home. They have won just six of their last 68 Tests away from home. In their most recent series, they drew 0-0 at home to New Zealand. They drew both of their warm-up matches in Australia.

KEY PLAYERS

AUSTRALIA: Steve Waugh. Cricket's most capped player, second highest run-scorer, second-highest century-maker and most successful captain is retiring after the series. Will be desperate to keep his brilliant record intact and finish his career on a high.

INDIA: Sachin Tendulkar. India's best batsman and already one of the greatest players in the sport's history. On the verge of becoming just the fourth player to score 9,000 Test runs. Topped the Indian batting averages on their last tour of Australia.

VENUE

The Gabba. Test cricket has been played at The Gabba since the early 1930s. Prior to that, matches in Brisbane were held at the Exhibition Ground. The Gabba is the home of the Queensland state cricket team and the Brisbane Lions, the reigning Australian Rules Football champions. The oval was also used to host soccer matches during the 2000 Olympics as well as the opening Test in the 2001 rugby union series between Australia and the British and Irish Lions.