Date:28/12/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/12/28/stories/2008122856981500.htm

Sport - Cricket

Ponting still backs Hayden

Melbourne: Captain Ricky Ponting still backs Matthew Hayden to return to form but the media here predicted that the out-of-form opener is almost certain to get the boot if Australia loses the second Test and the series against South Africa here.

Hayden fell for just eight to his old nemesis Makhaya Ntini in Australia’s first innings at the MCG, which had been the hunting ground for the Queenslander.

Before this Test and since recovering from an Achilles injury, Hayden has scored just 282 runs at an average of 23.5 in seven matches. And his tally from six innings this summer stood at just 56 Test runs at 9.33.

If Hayden fails again in the second innings or Australia loses the match and the series — first time at home soil after 1992-93 — Hayden will almost certainly have played the last of his 101 Tests and will not be there at the SCG for the third Test, which starts next Saturday, the media said.

Captain Ricky Ponting admitted Hayden’s results were a matter of concern.

“I’ve watched him closely this week and even the way he started (the innings), he’s looking particularly sharp.

“He hasn’t got the runs that he would have hoped for and that we would have hoped for, he’ll get another opportunity in the second innings and hopefully he can grab on to that one with both hands,” Ponting said.

Former Test captain Mark Taylor said the big Queenslander had lost touch at an alarming speed. “Matthew Hayden in good form would hit that ball through the covers. It’s a cruel game batting in the top order.

“Four or five Test matches ago that ball would have whistled through covers. Now his confidence is down and there is discussion about whether he should be in the side or not,” Taylor was quoted as saying by Herald Sun.

The media said Hayden’s sacking or his retirement is imminent unless he plays a big second innings or Australia wins the match at the MCG to level the three-match series after the home side lost by six wickets in the first Test at the WACA. — PTI