1st Test | Australia vs South Africa Day 4 Live Streaming | Perth | Highlights

There are few more disheartening sights in sport than watching a great career sputter towards an unbefitting end. It's a feeling that has gripped cricket fans in Australia and India in recent months and on a day when Rahul Dravid's half-century against England at least delayed further queries about his retirement plans, Matthew Hayden's second failure of the match against South Africa has only intensified speculation over his future.

Hayden has hit a wall that is starting to look as impenetrable as Dravid's defence at its peak. He took so long to get off the mark in the second innings at the WACA that when he finally struck his first runs in his 37th minute, he raised his bat to the crowd in a mock celebration. The fans cheered but must have been wondering if they will ever see him enjoy another genuine milestone.

If he remains keen to go on next year's Ashes tour, he needs to make a big score quickly. Hayden loves the MCG, where he has made centuries in six out of the past seven Boxing Day Tests, and he will be desperate to harness that positive vibe next week. The way he played in Perth it will take quite a turnaround. A horrible umpiring call contributed to his disappointment when he was given out caught off his pad, but he had been so scratchy that it was hard to imagine him lasting much longer anyway.

In his early days at the highest level, Hayden had an unfortunate habit of occasionally getting bowled misjudging the length and shouldering arms. It's such an ugly mode of dismissal that it magnifies a batsman's flaws. The uncertainty returned in this innings when he was lucky not to be given lbw when he left a Dale Steyn ball that swung in and would probably have clipped the stumps.

His hesitance was understandable. It was only by stripping away much of his aggression and returning to a cautious approach that he returned to form after a miserable Ashes tour in 2005. His first-innings dismissal must have been weighing on his mind as well. On the opening day, Hayden was buoyed by three confident fours when he flashed at a short, wide ball that he could easily have left and edged to slip. A man who made his name by intimidating new-ball bowlers around the world is himself beginning to look daunted.

There have been glimmers of hope in recent months - he made two half-centuries on the tour of India - but he hasn't looked right since missing the trip to the Caribbean due to an ongoing Achilles tendon injury. The heel was the fatal weakness of the mythological Greek soldier for which it was named and it could yet contribute to the undoing of a modern Australian warrior.