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Shane Watson could return to the Test team for Australia’s first match against South Africa as the side considers taking a four-man pace attack to the WACA. The Perth Test begins on December 17 and Australia’s captain Ricky Ponting said there was no guarantee a spinner would be required at a venue where pace has dominated in first-class cricket this season.

Australia took four fast men, including Shaun Tait, into the Perth Test against India last summer and the plan backfired when they lost by 72 runs. But depending on the surface they have not ruled out a similar strategy this year and Watson’s 7 for 69 in the first innings of Queensland’s Sheffield Shield match this week make him the leading contender for a spot.

South Africa have moved back ahead of India in the ICC Test Championship table after defeating Bangladesh by an innings in both matches of their two-Test series last month.

India and South Africa had been separated by just a fraction of a ratings point before the series began, so the prospect of a change in the pecking order was always on the cards, after India had claimed the No. 2 spot by beating Australia 2-0 in October and November.

The BCCI has unveiled a revised itinerary for England’s tour of India, with Chennai and Mohali named as the two Test venues, replacing Ahmedabad from December 11-15, and Mumbai from December 19-23.

According to a BCCI press release, the ECB has informed the Indian board that it has agreed to the revised schedule, in which the warm-up match in Vadodara from December 5 to 7 has been scrapped. The tour will be officially cleared after discussions between the ECB’s security consultant and officials in India, N Srinivasan, the BCCI secretary, said.

International cricket council is seriously thinking of moving the 2011 cricket world cup to Australia and New Zealand. ICC chief executives’ meeting in South Africa next week could possibly discuss putting Australia and New Zealand as standby hosts for the event.

The sub-continent has witnessed widespread violence in recent times; several teams have refused to travel to Pakistan, while Sri Lanka too has witnessed violence between the Sri Lankan army and the LTTE, and now there have been more than a handful of instances of terror attacks in India.