Hayden still uncertain for Perth
Matthew Hayden is hopeful of playing in the third Test in Perth but concedes he simply cannot be sure that his injured hamstring will be up to it
Cricinfo staff
10-Jan-2008
 |
| |
Matthew Hayden is hopeful of playing in the third Test in Perth but concedes he simply cannot be sure that his injured hamstring will be up to it. Hayden has been undergoing acupuncture to speed up his recovery and said he could not give any update on the verdict of Australia's medical staff, who earlier predicted he could be out for anywhere from one to five weeks.
"That is fair to say, it is really too hard to tell at the moment," Hayden told the Courier-Mail. "I've been basically resting this week and I don't know there's anything more I can do. I just have to let it heal.
"I am going to fly over to Perth and I've got until the weekend to have some more treatment. I am hopeful [of playing]. I am not too sure."
The paper reported that while Hayden was retained in Australia's unchanged 12-man squad for the third Test, the selectors considered putting Chris Rogers, the Western Australia opener on standby. Rogers remains the frontrunner to partner Phil Jaques if Hayden does not prove his fitness for the match, which starts on Wednesday.
The other choice would be to rush a prolific middle-order batsman such as Brad Hodge or Simon Katich to the WACA and bump Michael Hussey up to open with Jaques. Katich has already made more Pura Cup runs this season - 1279 at 109.75 - than Rogers' excellent collection of 1202 at 70.70 last summer, but the selectors might prefer a specialist opener.
Hayden will fly to Perth on Saturday and Alex Kountouris, the team physio, said if he did not see improvement in Hayden's hamstring soon the chances of him playing would decrease significantly. Acupuncture has worked for Hayden in the past but Kountouris said the decision on Hayden's chances would only be made after a fitness test.
"It will be a strength test where he will use his legs to push against me, in a couple of different ways at a couple of different angles," Kountouris said. "I will be looking to see the improvement he has made, if any. If he hasn't made any improvement it really decreases his chances of playing."