Ponting Backs Hayden; Selectors Don't

It is an unfortunate scene when a batsman is walking back to the pavilion the crowd is more interested in watching if he is indicating that this may be his last innings in Test cricket or even on home soil.
Matthew Hayden has had a string of poor failures since coming back from an injured heel and now it appears he is set to miss out on the opportunity to continue in all three formats of the game.
The first casualty of the Test series defeat against South Africa appears to be Hayden who has been dropped from the Twenty20 internationals and as well as the one day internationals against the visitors.
Instead the selectors have decided to go with David Warner and have recalled Shaun Tait who broke away from the Australian ranks last year citing mental and physical fatigue. Mitchell Johnson appears to be given rest given the fact that he has taken on much of the onus in Brett Lee’s dismal days and stands with further more gruelling tests ahead.
With just 149 runs at 16.55 in Australia’s summer, Hayden was not exactly making a case for himself. But it is his past reputation that makes Ricky Ponting sure that he would want Hayden, or Haydos as he is known, in his team any day.
But the chairman of selectors, Andrew Hilditch, is refusing to make a comment whether Hayden will be part of the touring entourage to South Africa for the second leg, if one can call it that, of the Test series, leave alone the Ashes.