Bowlers use damp balls to counter dew

Australia's bowlers will practise with wet white balls in the nets as they prepare to deal with the heavy dew expected throughout the Champions Trophy. All the matches are day-night affairs and the conditions will alter for the second innings, which is when Australia's fielding and delivery control suffered during last year's Chappell-Hadlee Series and on previous visits to the subcontinent.

However, the Australians, who are pushing for their first tournament win in the Champions Trophy, believe the moisture in the air for Wednesday's match against West Indies will not be as bad. "Perhaps the toss won't be as important here in Mumbai," Andrew Symonds said in the Sydney Morning Herald. "But we are going to have to practise bowling with wet balls and that sort of thing."

Symonds said the damp conditions could change games dramatically and "it's a bit of a shame". "I know we struck it in New Zealand last year," he said. "The game changed with the ball being wet and that sort of thing. But you've got to deal with it."

The tournament is an important one for Symonds as he tries to prove he is worthy of a return to the Test team for the Ashes. However, Symonds is realistic about his chances of beating Michael Clarke or Shane Watson into the No. 6 position.

"I have sort of felt like I'm one off the pace at the moment," Symonds said. "It depends what they go with. If we can do well in this and make a semi-final or a final, that will give the three of us an extra couple of games to play and maybe impress, throw our name up into the ring. But I've got absolutely no feel for what they are going to go for at this stage."