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Australia’s slim hopes of escaping Adelaide Oval with a draw have been reduced even further by captain Ricky Ponting’s revelation that opener Simon Katich has an Achilles tendon problem.
Katich hobbled on and off the field for most of day three of the second Ashes Test, with what a Cricket Australia spokesman described as a “sore heel”.
However Ponting said at the abandonment of play that Katich’s problem was in fact a badly swollen Achilles, which will call his place into question for the third Test in Perth.
“He’s been pretty hindered in the field today,” Ponting told Channel Nine.
“He’s got a sore Achilles, it’s quite badly swollen so I had him on and off the ground a couple of times today to get as much ice on it as possible knowing he’s got plenty of batting to do over the next couple of days.
“He’s a pretty tough character and once it’s time to bat he’ll be available.”
These have been rough times for 35-year-old Katich, run out without facing a ball on the first day to compound a lead-in to the Ashes that featured a wrongly diagnosed thumb fracture in India then a jarred shoulder in the final pre-Ashes Sheffield Shield match against Tasmania.
Australia’s fitness problems seem to stretch beyond Katich.
Ponting pointed out that the left-arm paceman Doug Bollinger had struggled to maintain his pace after becoming weary in the Adelaide heat.
This is despite his non-selection in the first Test at Brisbane, allowing Bollinger the luxury of an extra few days to build his endurance for Adelaide.
“Probably luckily we brought two fresh guys in in Bollinger and (Ryan) Harris for this game, otherwise they’d be really tired,” said Ponting.
“With Dougie late today he’s hit the wall a bit as well, they’re toiling away, they’re doing their best, there’s not much in the track.
“We’ve got to keep hanging in there and see if we can make some breakthroughs.
“To tell you the truth now most of the work for the rest of the game is going to be done by our batting.”
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