Hayden is the remedy for our catching woes: Punter

“The sooner we can get Matty back into the side and give us a bit more structure back around our slips cordon the better,” Ponting said on Thursday.

“The catching is a concern, no doubt about it. We put a few down in the Test series (against India) and the other night was pretty poor as well, with two going down in the slips.

“We’ve had guys moving all over the place in the cordon.Andrew Symonds coming in, Michael Clarke moving around first and second, me the other night being probably a specialist second-slipper finding myself at first slip and I put one down there.”

Ponting said Hayden, who has been troubled by a hamstring problem, had been cleared to play in Friday’s one-dayer against Sri Lanka at the Sydney Cricket Ground, if the match goes ahead.

The first two games in the triangular series were washed out in Brisbane and there is a danger Friday’s match will also succumb to the foul weather after a week of torrential rain.

The Australian players were forced to train indoors on Thursday with Ponting undergoing a longer than usual batting session to iron out any kinks in his injured back. The skipper missed last week’s Twenty20 against India because of pain in his lower back but is confident of playing through the rest of the Australian summer.

“My back has been better, I must admit, but it’s just something that I have to get on top of,” he said.