Ponting still backs Hayden, media predicts will get the boot

Melbourne, Dec 27 (PTI) 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 lose 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 average.

If Hayden fails again in the second innings or Australia
lose 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 win
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.

"Hayden failed again, this time it was in the cauldron of
the MCG, the very stage where he has stood so imposingly tall,
summer after summer. Only sympathy for symphonies past or a
minor miracle in the second innings will send him to Sydney
for the third Test.

"The great man may force a stay of execution if he
performs in his next dig, but if Australia loses here and he
does no better there is little hope of a last-minute reprieve.
There was no more glory left in Hayden's die. The odds had
shifted against him, the bat twisted in his hands.

"The Test great is falling silently, slowly and
inevitably, like a giant of the forest. It is terrible and
compelling to watch. The crash, when he hits the ground, will
reverberate for some time to come and has the selectors
bracing themselves," 'The Australian' wrote.

After Don Bradman, Hayden is the best performed batsman
of all time at the MCG He has six Christmas 100s here and an
average of 76.57 before his eight. But his latest failure at
the hallowed ground heralds his time is up, the media said.

"The beleaguered opener's future now hinges on the result
of the Boxing Day Test. The prospects of the big opener
batting on past the South African series appear bleak," said
'Daily Telegraph'.

"The Queenslander's decline began in India in October and
continued with stuttering, uncertain and all-too-brief
innings. The 101-Test veteran again looked a man caught
between wanting to attack and defend," said the 'Herald Sun'.

"It appeared the shot of a frustrated man who had lost
confidence so badly that swinging wildly seemed like the only
way out of his slump." PTI