Haddin may miss rest of Ashes series

A fractured finger just before the third Test has cast a shadow on Australian wicket-keeper Brad Haddin's participation in the rest of the Ashes series with coach Tim Nielsel saying keeping wickets in such a condition may further aggravate his injury.

Nielsen said Haddin is in doubt for at least the fourth Test at Leeds, which starts next week, and the team was waiting for more information on the gloveman's prognosis from a specialist in Australia.

Haddin fractured his finger just minutes before the start of the third Test in almost the same spot where Glenn McGrath sprained his ankle during the warm-up for the corresponding game four summers ago.

"He was catching the fast bowlers at the end of the warm up. Knowing we were batting, he stayed out to catch a few extra balls, one dipped a bit and hit him on the end of the left ring finger and he's got a fracture in the last part of his finger," Nielsen was quoted as saying by 'The Age'.

"We'll send the pictures off to Australia tonight. When the doc had a look, it was unstable, a real risk that if he played it was broken worse. We'd have to be careful looking at the fourth Test, but we don't know," he added.

Haddin, who made his debut with a cracked finger against the West Indies, wanted to play in the third Test but was told that he would need to take regular injections and also risked a more serious injury.

"We were concerned if he was going to play he would have had to have it injected pretty much every session because it was a pretty significant crack. The other issue is it's a fracture at the moment, so healing will be better than if it's totally broken off. "He could have made it worse if he kept. It's hard to go starting a game knowing you're going to get it shot up every two hours," Nielsen said.

Haddin's injury handed an unexpected Test debut to Graham Manou at Edgbaston and the South Australian keeper would be presented with his Baggy Green cap by skipper Ricky Ponting before the second day's play on Friday