Australia captain Ricky Ponting has revealed that opening batsman Matthew Hayden is doubtful for Thursday's opening test against West Indies.
Ponting told a news conference that the aggressive left-hander had sustained an Achilles injury and was unable to compete in the weekend's tour match against a Jamaica XI as a result.
The tourists are already without vice-captain Michael Clarke, who is attending the funeral of his fiancee's father, and Ponting revealed Hayden's participation in the Sabina Park clash still hangs in the balance.
Katich call
"He has actually woken up a lot better today than he has in the last two days, if he wakes up well tomorrow they will probably do some sort of testing," he said.
"But you'd have to say not playing last week and having limited preparation for the test, he's probably 50/50 at best."
The Australia skipper said that if Hayden fails to recover, fellow left-hander Simon Katich would open with Phil Jaques and Brad Hodge would come into the side at number five.
Australia will play three tests, five one-day internationals and a Twenty20 game against West Indies.
