Cricket: Hayden aims for fast recovery

Matthew Hayden is hoping a painful shoulder injury won't prevent him from ending a difficult summer on a high note.

The big Queenslander suffered a grade one strain to the AC joint in his right shoulder on Tuesday after taking a spectacular catch to dismiss Chris Cairns in the second one-day international.

Hayden had earlier starred with the bat in his team's 300-plus total, scoring his fifth one-day century after making 71 in the opening match at Wellington, in the process re-establishing his position at the top of the order.

The contributions were critical for the powerful left-hander, as he was left out of the Australian one-day team during the VB final, and was lowered by pneumonia-like symptoms before leaving for New Zealand.

The biggest concern now is that in a worst-case scenario he could be sidelined for up to three weeks, meaning he would be ruled out of the remaining one-day games and the first test in Christchurch.

Australian team physiotherapist Alex Kountouri hoped Hayden would be available for Saturday's third one-dayer in Auckland and said a better prognosis would be known tomorrow.

"At the moment he couldn't bat now and I doubt he could bat tomorrow," he said.

Hayden said yesterday he hoped the injury would be only a minor setback, as he was determined to build on his strong New Zealand start and make up for lost time.

"I'm at a stage where I just want to play and get as many runs as I can, as I've promised selectors over a long time," he said.

Hayden's stuttering form had raised questions about the possibility of him quitting ODI cricket to concentrate on the test scene, as did Shane Warne, Steve Waugh and Mark Taylor.

But the 33-year said he wasn't finished with the shorter game yet.