Australia's Test players prepare to fly to India

There's still no guarantee that there'll be any cricket awaiting them, as the telecast-rights dispute rumbles on through the courts of India, but Australia's cricketers are nonetheless preparing to fly out to Mumbai, ahead of their four-Test series, which begins in October.

Four members of the squad were not involved in the Champions Trophy - the spinners, Shane Warne, Cameron White and Nathan Hauritz, and the opening batsman, Justin Langer - and they are set to arrive in India in the early hours of Friday morning. They are departing their home states today, before convening in Singapore to catch the same flight to Mumbai.

For Warne in particular, the coming weeks represent one of the biggest challenges of his glittering career. Despite all his successes, he has never yet successfully cracked India, and if Australia are to avenge their 2-1 defeat in the corresponding series in 2000-01, then he will need to be at the top of his game.

No travel arrangements have yet been announced for the main body of players, who are currently in England recovering from the shock of their semi-final defeat at Edgbaston. The first match of the tour, a three-day affair against the Ranji Trophy champions Mumbai, will begin at the Brabourne Stadium on September 30.