Michael Hussey has a 'chance' of being picked

Ricky Ponting believes there is a chance Australia's selectors will gamble on sending Michael Hussey to the World Cup early next week, but he still thinks a bowler is more likely get the nod. The seamer Doug Bollinger flew home due to an ankle injury after Australia's second game, and the selectors delayed choosing a replacement until later in the tournament.

However, Ponting wants the decision to be made soon after Saturday's match against Sri Lanka, before the side heads to Bangalore to play Kenya and Canada. Hussey was withdrawn from the original squad due to a serious hamstring injury but he has made his return to elite cricket this week, in Western Australia's Sheffield Shield match in Perth, where he batted at No. 3 and spent 53 deliveries in the middle to make 19.

"There's probably got to be a chance that Mike might come," Ponting said on Friday in the lead-up to the Sri Lanka match. "I believe he's playing a game that started yesterday. It will be interesting to see how he gets through that game. Probably one of the reasons the selectors have waited until after this game is to see how all the fast bowlers that are here are actually getting through their workloads. We had a couple of guys coming here who were probably a little bit underdone.

"Someone like Shaun Tait is just working up to full fitness now. They'll wait until the end of the game and see how those guys are going, knowing that we've got an extended break after that. I still expect it's more likely that it will be a bowler than a batsman, but it's nice to know that we've got a couple of options in the wings at home waiting to join the squad if required."

Australia have had a seven-day break after the victory over New Zealand in Nagpur, and they have another week-long rest following Saturday's match in Colombo. Bollinger did not play after the first warm-up game and with Tait, Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson all in reasonable form, and John Hastings waiting in the squad, there was no need to rush another fast man over.

But Ponting doesn't want the selectors to take the same risk in the lead-up to the Canada and Kenya games, which are followed soon after by their final group-stage clash with Pakistan in Colombo. Among the bowling contenders, Peter Siddle took 1 for 56 in 18 overs against South Australia on Friday, the allrounder Daniel Christian picked up two wickets in the same game, Xavier Doherty bowled just one over in Hobart and James Hopes was in good all-round form at the WACA.

"In this part of the world you can have a couple of guys go down overnight and the last thing you want to do is be caught short going in to any game in a World Cup," Ponting said. "I think someone will be named soon after this game is finished, and that will give them a chance to arrive in Bangalore and get a couple of days training under their belt for if they're required for those two games coming up."

Other men playing the current round of Sheffield Shield games who could come in to consideration include the New South Wales fast bowler Trent Copeland, the left-arm spinner Steve O'Keefe and the in-form Tasmanian allrounder Luke Butterworth. The squad already has two back-up batsmen, with Callum Ferguson and Tim Paine both unused so far in the World Cup.