Haddin not feeling threatened by Paine

Brad Haddin is looking forward to the first Test against West Indies, confident that his position as Australia's No. 1 wicketkeeper hasn't been threatened. Haddin made his return to cricket during the week after having surgery on the finger that he broke during the Ashes tour.

In his absence, Tim Paine and Graham Manou have both been used in one-day internationals and Paine especially was a standout until breaking his finger in India. Paine has averaged 31.92 in his 15 ODIs and his highlight was 111 opening the batting against England at Trent Bridge, but Haddin knows he remains the main man.

"I can see why people might have thought things had changed," Haddin told the Sydney Morning Herald. "That sort of talk doesn't worry me. All I can do is make sure when I get back in, I'm not playing injured like I was the last two Tests in England. Not that I regret it.

"Ask me now if I would've played with my broken hand, knowing I could do more damage to it, and I still would have done the exact same thing. It was a massive series. I wanted to be a part of it, and I have no regrets at all about playing and making the finger worse.

"Tim and Graham, I'd never begrudge them going well. I've never been one to think like that. It probably comes from me being behind 'Gilly' [Adam Gilchrist] for so long. I can't control what the other guys are doing ... I'm not sitting back and getting my Tim Paine and Graham Manou voodoo dolls out and sticking pins in them every night."

Australia's chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch gave Haddin a call when Paine was being sent home from India, to see if Haddin was a chance to join the squad. But he had yet to make his state return, which came during the week in the Sheffield Shield match against Western Australia, and he wasn't keen to take the risk.

"I wasn't right to go to India to start with, and my whole build-up, after talking to the physio and the selectors, had been to get right for the first Test," Haddin said. "If I'd gone over to India and my hand wasn't right, I'd be looking like an idiot. But if I was fit to go on that India tour, I would have gone."

Haddin has one more Sheffield Shield game and an FR Cup match to confirm his fitness before the West Indies series. The first Test starts at the Gabba on November 26.