Nightmare day for Aussie stars

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Skipper ... Michael Clarke is sent packing cheaply in Brisbane. Source: Peter Wallis / News Limited

A day planned to herald Australian cricket's resurgence has developed into a nightmare with injuries and form cruelling many stars.

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Around Australia in four first-class matches - and sadly a doctor's office in Melbourne - many players in the Test frame and some just outside it have suffered blows a week out from the summer's first Test against South Africa.

Former Test skipper Ricky Ponting has been withdrawn from Tasmania's Sheffield Shield match with hamstring soreness in Hobart.

Rising paceman Pat Cummins has been ruled out for the season with a stress fracture to his lower back.

And some disappointing returns from those batsmen still vertical have left more questions than answers as the Proteas warm up against Australia A in Sydney.

Prospective opening batsmen Liam Davis and Phil Hughes both failed at the SCG, the former a victim of a ripping Dale Steyn delivery.

Australia A captain Andrew McDonald was then trapped LBW by South African leg-spinner Imran Tahir for a fourth-ball duck.

But in perhaps the only good news for Australian batsmen today, Victorian opener Rob Quiney and New South Welshman Steve Smith steadied the ship.

At Allan Border Field in Brisbane, NSW lost Test core David Warner (2), Michael Clarke (8) and Shane Watson (33) by the time the Blues had reached 52 against Queensland.

At the MCG, Cameron White got a golden duck, David Hussey made just four and Matthew Wade eight as the vaunted Victorians capitulated to the swing bowling of WA's largely unheralded Jason Behrendorff.

In Hobart, George Bailey made 32 as Tasmania bumbled along to first-innings points against South Australia, but the worst news from Bellerive concerned the in-form Ponting, who had been dismissed on Thursday night for six.

Cricket Australia made the pre-emptive move after he complained of a sore hamstring during the game.

But CA performance manager Pat Howard said the injury should not jeopardise Ponting's chances of playing in the first Test.

"This is a precautionary move to ensure Ricky has the best possible preparation for the first Test," Howard said.

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"If this wasn't a week out from the first Test, then Ricky would continue with the match, but we don't want to take that risk.

"We expect Ricky to be fit for the first Test against South Africa."

Cummins returns to Sydney this afternoon after learning in Melbourne that the sore back he developed in South Africa during the Champions League Twenty20 was more serious than originally thought.

"Because of his age and past history we decided to investigate the source of the pain and unfortunately he has an early stage stress fracture of his spine, confirmed by scans today," CA physiotherapist Alex Kountouris said.

"Pat had a spine bone stress injury a few years ago, but the current injury is new and in an entirely different part of the spine.

"We expect he will recover fully from this injury and will be closely monitored to determine his return to the playing field, but expect that he will miss most of the 2012-13 domestic cricket season."

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