Clarke doubtful for VB Series

Michael Clarke has suffered a foot injury on the final day of the Sydney Test and remains doubtful for the VB Series, beginning on January 14. Clarke, who stayed off the field for the last four sessions of the third Test, underwent series of scans to clear any doubts of a stress fracture.

However, Clarke remained in a lot of pain despite the scans revealing nothing to suggest a serious injury. "The scans have come back all clear, which is a great thing for him and the team," Ricky Ponting told AAP. "But I guess we just have to keep an eye on him over the next few days and see how it comes along. It's changing every day. It's in a more isolated spot now than it was yesterday which did raise some more concerns from Errol Alcott [the team physiotherapist]. But all the scans we just had done today have come up very clear."

Ponting further revealed that Clarke had no idea how he hurt his foot as he wasn't struck while batting or fielding. "He's worn the same shoes all the time," Ponting said. "Quite often if you're changing your shoes round a lot you can have different little sore spots in your feet, but he hasn't done that, so hopefully we'll get to the bottom of that pretty quickly."

Clarke, who had a fantastic start to his Test career, has played a vital part in Australia's one-day fortunes over the last year. Not only has he contributed with rapid knocks towards the end of the innings but also given the team an extra option with his let-arm spin.