Thursday, 19 July 2012:

Another injury setback has not made Shane Watson reassess his allrounder status - but he admits the time will come when he must weigh up how many formats he can keep playing.

However, the Australian vice-captain hinted that decision might not be any time soon despite recovering from a calf complaint ahead of what he described as a "non-stop" next 18 months of international cricket.

Watson, 31, confirmed he had signed a three-year deal with Big Bash League outfit Brisbane Heat.

However, if all went to plan with his recovery, Watson planned to play only "one or two" games in 2012-13 due to international duty.

Watson is being rested from the upcoming one-day series against Pakistan in the UAE after injury cut short his stint in Australia's doomed ODI tour of England.

It sounded alarm bells after Watson missed Australia's entire Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test series triumph due to another calf complaint - especially after also suffering a hamstring strain in South Africa last November.

But the 35-Test and 154-ODI veteran said he had no plans to change his role or workload - yet.

"I love playing all three forms. If my body holds together, I would love to continue to do that," Watson said in Brisbane on Thursday.

"But there is no doubt over the next few years I will have to make some decisions over what I am going to do over the three forms - (but) I do love every single aspect of every form."

Watson did not seem frustrated that he must continue to tinker with his fitness regime to manage his injury-plagued frame, calling his latest calf complaint a "minor setback".

"I love being an allrounder. I couldn't see myself playing any other way," he said.

"I have done a lot of hard work over the last 10 or 11 years to get my body at a place where I can consistently do it as an allrounder.

"It is just the continual management of my bowling workload weighed up against the amount I bat.

"That's something the medical staff and (captain) Michael (Clarke) and I continue to talk about - getting that balance right so I can contribute with the ball as much as the bat."

Watson is priming himself for the Twenty20 World Cup in Sri Lanka starting on September 18 but was disappointed to miss out on the upcoming ODI series against Pakistan - in more ways than one.

Due to the UAE heat, the ODI games against Pakistan will be played at night with finishes predicted for around 2am - much to Watson's amusement.

"It would not have been an adjustment for me because 2am is usually when I am about to peak," Watson laughed.

AAP