10 Dec 2009

Third Test squad compromised by injury

1:35 pm on 10 December 2009

Australia's plans for the final Test against the West Indies in Perth have been compromised by injury, after they were unable to consider swing bowler Ben Hilfenhaus while also remaining unsure about the fitness of seamer Peter Siddle.

Hilfenhaus would have been the ideal man to deliver into-the-wind spells of tidy outswing at the WACA ground as the quicker Mitchell Johnson and Doug Bollinger operated down-breeze.

His withdrawal from the Adelaide Test was geared at getting him ready in time but a nagging knee problem continues to restrict his movement at home in Tasmania.

However Siddle complained of hamstring tightness during the Adelaide Test and bowled only eight overs in the second innings.

If he's not fit that could mean a baggy green cap for the untried Victorian Clint McKay.