Clarke cleared as Warner leaves ODI squad

David Warner will be given a rest from the spotlight after Michael Clarke was passed fit for Australia's first one-day international against South Africa at the MCG on Friday. The opening batsman Warner flew home to Sydney on Thursday afternoon after being added as cover for Clarke, who had been battling a thumb injury.

"He'll be fine to play," Australia's captain Ricky Ponting said of Clarke on Thursday. "He's completed all his training well today. There's still a bit of discomfort in his thumb but he's had that since the start of the Perth Test and got through really well."

Warner burst on to the international scene with 89 in his Twenty20 debut on Sunday, but was unable to follow it with another strong performance in the second game at the Gabba on Tuesday. He will not be part of the first two one-day internationals and his next engagement will be a Twenty20 match for New South Wales against Victoria in Sydney on Saturday.

However, Warner could be added to the group for the remainder of the five-match series and his possible inclusion is one of several important decisions the selectors will make in the next few weeks. Clarke, Brad Haddin and Mitchell Johnson were all rested for the Twenty20s and Ponting said he himself was no certainty to play all five games in the upcoming ODI series against New Zealand.

"We're going to have some guys coming back in and out of the squad over the next few weeks," Ponting said. "I'm sure my name will be one that they'll be talking about as far as workload management goes.

"It hasn't been discussed yet. I imagine I'll play all the South African games. Right at the moment I'm feeling good, my body is going really well at the moment. Towards the end of the Test series I was starting to get a few runs on the board as well. I'm always someone that when I'm going well and playing well that you just want to keep doing that and keep performing."