Haddin aims to cement his place in Oz Test side

Melbourne, Nov 3 : Brad Haddin feels that his injury-enforced break have been a blessing in disguise, as the refreshed wicket-keeper batsman returns to first-class cricket today and aims to cement his place in the Australian Test side.

Haddin has been focussing on the first Test of the Australian summer, against the West Indies from November 26, a goal which denied him rushing to join the one-day team in India when his replacement, Tim Paine, became the third Australian wicketkeeper in as many months to break a finger.

The NSW batsman has also been planning a foray into the Indian Premier League (IPL) next year, with Mumbai considered the most likely to secure his services.

''I've always been a fan of the IPL but my focus was always firstly to cement myself in the Test team,'' the 32-year-old said.

The right-hander broke the ring finger on his left hand during the warm-up for the third Ashes Test, paving way for Graham Manou Manou to debut in the third of the seven-match ODI series, while Haddin played a one-day game for NSW, and he will test out the hand in a Sheffield Shield game against Western Australia at the SCG from today.

Australia levelled the ongoing series 2-2 after last night's fourth ODI win against India by 24-run.

''The plan was always to be right for the first Test,'' Haddin said.

''I was a little bit nervous going into the (one-day) game because I wasn't sure how it was going to respond but it's come through well. I hadn't played cricket for 11 weeks.

''It's been a frustrating break but I think it will freshen me up, especially with all the cricket the boys have been playing and, the way blokes are going down at the moment, it might work out to be a bit of godsend,'' he was quoted as saying by 'The Sydney Morning Herald'.

Haddin further expressed no regrets about playing through the pain in fifth Test of the Ashes, which he knew could make the injury worse.

''Probably playing in that fifth Test did a lot more damage, but that was a choice I made. I knew the consequences,'' Haddin said.

''Once I went on the field, I was passed 100 per cent fit, I didn't look for any sympathy or anything like that,'' he explained.

--UNI

(c) 2009 Published with permission from United News of India.
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