Hayden joins Australia's casualty ward

Both Matthew Hayden and Phil Jaques will miss the Pura Cup matches starting on Friday © Getty Images Enlarge

Australia's growing sick list now includes Matthew Hayden after he succumbed to a knee injury. Hayden's tendonitis means both of the country's Test openers are out - Phil Jaques has the mumps - of the Pura Cup games starting on Friday while Andrew Symonds has an ankle problem, Michael Clarke is fighting hamstring tightness and Stuart MacGill's struggles continue.

It is a relief for Australia that there is no serious cricket due until the Twenty20 international in Perth on December 11. Hayden will not play for Queensland against South Australia after Cricket Australia's medical staff said he needed on-going treatment. The injury does not threaten his prospects for the Boxing Day Test.

The future of MacGill is still unclear after a specialist analysed his hand and wrist on Wednesday and a Cricket Australia spokesman told the Australian he would return for more scans. MacGill is having trouble with a bone-on-bone knee problem, but he also experienced numbness in his hand during the Test against Sri Lanka in Hobart.

"I have had nothing confirmed at this stage by anyone qualified to do so, but can guarantee you that I will not be taking the field again until I am at the top of my game," MacGill told the paper. "I will do anything necessary to achieve that, including surgery."

MacGill's manager, Leo Karis, said the legspinner did not know what to do. "He's assessing his options," Karis told AAP. "Whether that option is A, B, C or D, his main focus is playing cricket pain-free and that's up to him to see how he does that."