Haddin ruled out of whole ODI series

Brad Haddin will miss the rest of the one-day series against South Africa but Australia's medical staff remain hopeful he will be fit for the first Test against India. Haddin hurt his right shoulder while diving for a catch during the second Test against Pakistan in the UAE and it now appears that a Sheffield Shield match in the last week of November will be his final chance to prove his fitness for the Gabba Test.

The selectors had already announced that Haddin would rest from the first two ODIs in Perth and named Matthew Wade as his replacement, and the likelihood now is that Wade will fill the role for the whole series. Alex Kountouris, the team physio, said Cricket Australia's chief medical officer Dr John Orchard had assessed Haddin in Sydney and confirmed the injury was to his AC joint.

"He has improved and responded to treatment since returning from the UAE but has not recovered sufficiently to return to training and therefore he has been declared unfit for the remainder of ODI series against South Africa," Kountouris said. "Whilst it is disappointing that Brad will miss the ODI series, the CA medical team are still hopeful that he will recover in time for the first Test against India."

However, in order to prove his fitness Haddin would likely need to play before the Test, which begins at the Gabba on December 4. That would almost certainly mean that he would need to play for New South Wales in their Sheffield Shield match against South Australia at the SCG, which starts on November 25, two days after the final ODI.

"He would have to play some cricket before the first Test starts," Australia's coach Darren Lehmann said on Brisbane radio station 4BC. "There's a Shield game before the first Test, so if he misses all the one-dayers then he would probably have to play that I would think."

Although x-rays cleared Haddin of a fracture to his shoulder, he sustained significant bruising following his dive in the Abu Dhabi Test. He batted in both innings of the match after suffering the injury but the wicketkeeping duties were mostly shared by David Warner and Glenn Maxwell after Haddin initially attempted to play on.