Langer unlikely to bat on final day

Justin Langer is helped off after being struck by Mahkaya Ntini © Getty Images

It is still not certain whether Justin Langer will bat on the final day of the Johannesburg Test, even though the match itself looks like going down to the wire. At the close of the fourth day Australia still needed 44 runs to complete a clean sweep with four wickets in hand. But whether Langer, who was poleaxed by Makhaya Ntini in Australia's first innings, will bat if needed remained a doubt.

"He (Langer) wasn't going to bat tonight if it came down to that," said Mike Hussey. "I'm not sure how he will pull up tomorrow. As we all know he's a pretty tough sort of character but at the end of the day it is just a game of cricket, and he's got a lovely wife and four children at home.He will be monitored again in the morning but we will have to see how we go and see how he feels about it."

Philip Pope, the Australians' media manager, was less optimistic, telling reporters that Langer was "more unlikely than likely to bat".

And Mark Boucher upped the already heated atmosphere by stating that if Langer was needed, he would be shown no mercy. "We've got a Test match to win ... so if that means bowling short balls at him, so be it," he said. "We can't lay off, and I don't think he'd expect us to lay off.

"If I get hit on the head and expect half-volleys after that then I shouldn't be playing the game. If there's a Test match up for grabs, we've got to win it."