Clarke hopes Ponting will be fit for Cape Town

Australia may be hit by injuries and down 1-0 in the five-match one-day series, but Michael Clarke does not think there is much to worry about. Clarke, who scored a half-century in Sunday's six-wicket loss, believes the side is playing well despite losing the opening two games of the tour.

"[The first ODI] was a little bit disappointing but we're not far away," he told AAP. "I don't think we have too much to worry about. We're playing pretty good cricket."

Australia's back-up bowlers Mitchell Johnson and Mick Lewis suffered in the first one-dayer alongside Brett Lee, but injuries are becoming a greater problem as Ricky Ponting (stomach), Andrew Symonds (hip) and Stuart Clark (rib) are all in doubt for Friday's second match at Cape Town. Phil Jaques will arrive in South Africa as cover on Wednesday and will be considered for a spot at No. 3 or in the middle order.

Ponting is hopeful of playing and Clarke backed his captain to be fit. "Fingers crossed, I hope Ricky is fine for Friday, so Phil probably won't get the chance to play," Clarke said. "Jaquesy is a fantastic player. As he has shown before, he'll step up and do well. We'll get Jaquesy if Ricky and Andrew [Symonds] aren't fit."

Clarke said the appearance of both injured players would give the side a big lift as they attempt to level the series. "Ricky and Andrew, if they don't score a run between them, just their presence in the field is missed unbelievably," Clarke said. "Punter is the No. 1 batsman in the world at the moment and 'Symmo' is certainly up there. You can't replace those sorts of guys and they were certainly missed."

The Test squad is announced next week and Clarke has been fine-tuning his new-ball method in the nets in a bid to return to the squad for the three-match series starting on March 16. "I just need to continue working hard on my game, continue scoring runs and hopefully another opportunity will come up," he said.