Australia not seeking venue change yet

Cricket Australia will not push for the venue of the third Test to be changed after another bomb blast in Delhi just yet, says spokesman Peter Young. The already heightened level of security provided to the Australian team on their tour of India is likely to be increased and CA is waiting to hear back from its security experts before taking a decision.

"We are not due to go to New Delhi for the best part of a month and I would guess that unless our security advice changes I wouldn't expect our plans to change," Young said told the Sydney Morning Herald. "Certainly the briefings we have been getting have suggested no immediate need to change our processes. Our advice is that there is no specific concern about cricket."

Rajiv Shukla, the chairman of BCCI's media committee, was quoted as saying by Cricketnext: "We are in touch with the Home Ministry and the security provided to the Australian team will be increased. Advisory has been sent to all state governments hosting the Tests. For now, the Delhi Test in is on."

Saturday's blast was the second such instance in Delhi this month after five bomb blasts on September 13. The Australian team, however, will wait for instructions from Cricket Australia on further course of action.

"It's late in Australia and I don't think we will receive any instructions before Sunday morning," the media manager Matthew Slade told Times of India on Saturday. "But we are sure to have a security briefing in the morning. I'm not saying it's a concern at the moment, or that there could a request for a possible venue change, or other issues. We'll come to know soon."

The Australians have just completed a warm-up match in Jaipur. Their second practice match is against an Indian Board President's XI in Hyderabad from October 2 to 5.

Chappell helps Australia in India

Australia have enlisted the help of the former India coach Greg Chappell as they prepare to defend the Border-Gavaskar Trophy away from home. Chappell is travelling with the Australia squad as an assistant coach and he will pass on plenty of advice to the players and support staff about cricket and life in India.

"It's good to be involved this time," Chappell told the Herald Sun. "Obviously it's a transition period and always an exciting time.

"I'll have the opportunity to work with some of the young players. Just talk about the conditions in India, generally, will be part of the role, just what to expect in India, conditions, weather, food - all those different things.

"We'll be talking about the whole strategy involving bowling and batting in India. There will be discussions certainly with the coaching staff and probably with the individuals."

Chappell was the coach of India from 2005 to 2007 and still works with the Rajasthan Cricket Academy. The new role touring with Australia follows his appointment as the head coach at the Centre of Excellence in Brisbane.

"It's a role that the Centre of Excellence head does from time to time," Chappell said. "Tim Nielsen obviously did it with the team on various occasions when he was with the academy, so it's no different to the past. Some people will want to make it look different, but it's not."

Chappell's inclusion in the off-field staff will be a major boost for a squad that has only four men who have played a Test in India: Ricky Ponting, Matthew Hayden, Michael Clarke and Simon Katich. The Australians arrived in Jaipur on Monday and they will have two warm-up games before the Test series begins on October 9.

Ponting keen to improve average in India

Ricky Ponting has departed for India with a personal goal alongside his main aim of retaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy: he is desperate to improve his average of 12.28 in India. Ponting said it was a void in his cricket resume and he was keen to rectify it in the coming weeks after Australia arrive in the country on Monday.

"I've had a couple of disappointing Test series [in India]. In 2001, I made next to no runs," Ponting said before the team's departure from Sydney. "The last series over there that we won, I broke my thumb and missed the first three Tests and came back for the last one, and that was the only one we lost."

Ponting's average in India is his lowest in any country; his aggregate of 17 runs in the three Tests in 2000-01 is his worst in any Test series. He will be attempting to fix his problem against an experienced India outfit.

Australia, on the other hand, have lost Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Adam Gilchrist, Damien Martyn, Justin Langer, Darren Lehmann, Michael Kasprowicz and Jason Gillespie from the previous tour to India in 2004. However, Ponting said taking a fresher squad might be a benefit.

"I think we made too much of the conditions in India a lot of the times before we get there," he said. "I think, quite often, the less that you talk about it and the more you get to understand it, the people and the conditions, the better off you are over there."

With the tour following an acrimonious and controversial series in Australia, Ponting hoped the upcoming contest would be played in the right spirit. "There's been a very healthy rivalry between India and Australia in one-day and Test cricket and our last few Test encounters have been very good and some very close results."

Ponting also said the decision to not tour Pakistan for the Champions Trophy had been the right one, following bomb blasts in Islamabad over the weekend. "It's devastating for the people involved," he said. "I mean, we'd be talking hypothetically of us being in the hotel, or England, or South Africa being in the hotel.

"I think what we've done, right the way through, is that we just have to listen to the advice from the experts, our Department of Foreign Affairs, and security advice. It is an absolute shame that things like this continue to happen in Pakistan because, believe it or not, as players, you want to ... play in all the conditions around the world."