Bevan not considered automatic one-day selection

Captain Ricky Ponting said not even matchwinner Michael Bevan was an automatic selection in the Australian one-day team tomorrow as selectors face the toughest choice of the South African tour.

They must drop one of the in-form batsmen for the day-night clash in Durban if Bevan recovers from the hamstring strain which has sidelined him for the last three matches.

The left-hander has batted in the nets, suggesting he is ready to return to a batting line-up which has driven Australia to a 3-0 lead with three matches to play.

In-form Queenslander Jimmy Maher shapes as the most likely casualty if Bevan returns, but Ponting was reluctant to discuss the possibilities as he awaited a phone call from chairman of selectors Trevor Hohns.

"It will be a hard decision now but we haven't spoken about it yet," Ponting said.

"I don't think anyone is an automatic selection but who do you leave out if you put Bevo in? That's the hard thing.

"Jimmy has performed well and most of the batters have done a good job in all of the games. It's going to be very hard to slot him back in."

Despite Ponting's caution, Bevan would be a certain inclusion because of his excellent record in one-day internationals, boasting the best batting average of anyone to have played more than five matches.

He dragged Australia to a desperate victory over New Zealand earlier this season with a century at the MCG, confirming his reputation as the most reliable batsman in the game.

If Bevan, Ponting and Adam Gilchrist are rated definite starters, selectors must drop one out of Maher, Matthew Hayden, Damien Martyn or Darren Lehmann in cricket's version of musical chairs.

Each of those four players has performed during the series especially Maher, who received the man-of-the-match award in the second and third games when called in for Bevan.

He followed that with a valuable 14 not out from 12 balls in Australia's 37-run victory in the fourth match in Bloemfontein last Saturday.

Lehmann has been excellent in the series, helping Ponting in his first matches as captain, while Hayden has been promised an extended run as opener, scoring 79 in the tied match in Potchefstroom last week.

Martyn has regained speed at No.4 after a scratchy run with scores of 42, 35 and 24, not making the job any easier for selectors.

But that could change if Australia wraps up the series tomorrow, with Ponting indicating selectors could try different combinations in the final matches in Port Elizabeth and Cape Town.

"I want to win every game we play and if we put our best team on the park then it's going to make the job a bit easier," Ponting said.

"We have to win the series first but we might try a different combination for the last couple of games if we win this one."

South African selectors face their own problems as they try to work fast bowler Nantie Hayward back into the team.

Captain Shaun Pollock has already admitted Hayward's recovery from an ankle injury left a question mark over the best combination for the Proteas, who have used Pollock, Makhaya Ntini and Roger Telemachus in three of the four matches.