PAUL TERRY has hinted that the out-of-form Will Kendall will NOT be the man to replace Shane Warne as Hampshire captain against Somerset on Friday.

Batsman Kendall scored a half-century in leading Hampshire to a memorable victory over Yorkshire at Headingley when Warne was away last month.

But since his match-winning 31 not out against Durham in the opening match of the season, Kendall has struggled.

All-rounder Shane Watson set to make his first class debut for Hampshire in Warne's absence, and Alan Mullally is also likely to return.

So Kendall could be the man to make way, as he has scored just 205 runs at 20.50 in the championship this season

First team manager Terry said: "That's obviously a concern. My first priority is to pick the side and I will be picking the best 11 players.

"I'll be discussing the team with Shane over the next couple of days but I'm not picking the captain until we've selected the team."

If Kendall is dropped, John Crawley will be the man most likely to take on the captain's role after filling in last year.

Crawley was injured when Warne was unavailable for the trip to Headingley last month but is the obvious candidate to captain Hampshire in the two championship games at the Rose Bowl against Somerset and Yorkshire next Wednesday.

Warne flies out to Australia after the first day's play against Somerset hoping to recover from the fracture to the fifth metacarpal bone in his left hand in time to play for his country against Sri Lanka.

The 34-year-old remains 50-50 for the first Test in Darwin, which begins on July 1, but has been told that he has a very good chance of playing in Cairns on July 9.

"At the moment it's too early to say but he's 50-50 for the first Test," said Hampshire director Tim Tremlett. "Obviously he's very keen to play, having missed so much cricket. But he's a real chance for the second Test match.

"There was no evidence of gross deformity, it's not a major break, so it's just a question of it being immobilised with strapping. And it's on his left hand, so it's not his bowling hand."

Warne currently has 517 Test wickets, two behind the retired West Indies paceman Courtney Walsh's old record and 10 behind Muttiah Muralitharan.

The Sri Lankan star yesterday confirmed reports that he would not be touring Australia, giving Warne the chance to grab the Test record if he recovers from injury.

Warne is expected to play his next game for Hampshire in the totesport National League against Northants at the Rose Bowl on July 18.

Hampshire team v Somerset (possible): Kenway, Brown, Crawley (capt), Clarke, Watson, Pothas, Mascarenhas, Udal, Tremlett, Mullally, Taylor.