MELBOURNE, Feb 1: The next three days will be crucial for Matthew Hayden and Andrew Symonds as Australian selectors consider the team for first one-day cricket tri-series final against Pakistan.

Captain Ricky Ponting again strongly backed out-of-sorts duo On Tuesday, but stressed the team had to lift after Sunday's poor performance against Pakistan. Australia lost by three wickets as Hayden (six) failed again and Symonds made 23.

Pakistan on Tuesday beat West Indies in Perth to qualify for best-of-three finals series, which opens on Friday at the MCG. Selector Allan Border said it was important Australia put its "best side on the paddock" for finals and said if that meant dropping Hayden, "well, so be it."

On Border's comments, Ponting replied: "He's one of the selectors, I haven't spoken to him about that. We've got a couple of training days to come, all of us have to lift our games a little bit from our last performance in Perth.

"It was a pretty ordinary performance - definitely worst performance of the summer." Ponting said Perth loss (against Pakistan) could benefit team, provided players learnt their lessons.

"Perth was a poor game for us, no doubt about that, we were very ordinary over there, we batted poorly and bowled poorly and we were made (to) pay. "It gives us now a new direction and focus and we know where we need to improve.

It's more of a wake-up call...to let us know if we're not 100 per cent on our games, then anyone can beat us." Meanwhile, rising young Australian cricketer Michael Clarke said on Tuesday he was prepared for his golden run to end after winning the Allan Border Medal.

The dashing 23-year-old batsman on Monday won Australian cricket's top individual honour ahead of the more experienced Damien Martyn. Clarke has been the sensation of Australian cricket in the last year with his continued strong one-day form and centuries on Test debut home and away.

"I've been really enjoying my cricket, especially over the last 12 months - I made my debut for Australia in Test cricket, I've been doing pretty well in one-dayers and hopefully, fingers crossed, I will continue doing well," Clarke told reporters.

"But there does come a time where unfortunately in this great game you can't do well all the time and I know that's going to happen. So I will continue enjoying the moment and keep working as hard as I possibly can.

"I don't think you can avoid it, that's the way cricket goes - I don't think there's been any player, anywhere, who's never failed or has been successful for his whole career.

"I think I do understand that and I think I need to make the most of the times when you're doing well, because there does come a time that isn't so successful." Apart from his family, Clarke said there was a wealth of experience within the Australian team to help him deal with any setbacks.

"Take your pick - there's so many guys ... if I can't learn from them, I never will," he said. Clarke said playing his way out of a batting slump with English county Hampshire last year had taught him perspective about the game. -AFP