Warner addresses injury concern

He's been unable to pick up a bat for five weeks, but vice-captain David Warner is confident his still broken left thumb won't rule him out of contention for the first Test against New Zealand.

Warner is in a race against time to prove his fitness for NSW's opening Sheffield Shield clash against South Australia from October 28-31 ahead of the first Test at the Gabba from November 5.

Selectors will decide on the squad for the first Test halfway through that match and Warner is confident of being available.

But he says the injury he suffered against England at Lord's on September 4 is taking some time to heal. 

Watch: Warner breaks thumb in England

The blow from a Steven Finn delivery resulted in a clean break near the tip of the thumb on his bottom hand, the same digit he fractured in the WACA Ground nets in early 2013.

"I saw the surgeon at the four-week mark, which was last Friday," Warner said today. "I had an x-ray and it was still broken.

"He said generally around the six-week mark - I'm coming up to five weeks at the moment - generally it would be healed.

"At this stage my goal is to try and play the first Shield game. I'll have a follow up x-ray this Friday and then if all goes well I'll be having a hit (in the nets) on Monday."

Warner's planned timeline means he will have just over a week between his return to net training and the opening day of the day-night Shield match in Adelaide.

While confident he'll be available to take on the Redbacks, Warner believed he could still perform strongly in the first Test even if he was unable to prove his fitness for the Shield clash.

But he acknowledged that should he be unavailable for the Shield round, it would be up to selectors to decide if his preparation was adequate enough to play in the first Test.

"I probably can, but I haven't spoken to selectors about that," he said.

"But my goal is to play that Shield game, I want to play that Shield game to have a hit because I don't think I'll be able to get out here and play any of the last couple of games for the Matador Cup.

"I think eight years on the road playing a lot of cricket, you don't lose that (ability) overnight.

"I think this four to six week break mentally (has) freshened me up and I think it's going to put me in good stead for the summer.

"You're only one or two hits away in the nets, an hour off getting back to what you can do. But obviously batting against bowlers is going to be the key."

Warner showed off the damaged thumb at Australia's red-ball training camp at Hurstville today, with the digit covered by a protective guard in order to prevent any further damage.

The injury will stop him from taking any active part in the two-day camp, which has been scheduled to give Australia's players some much-needed practice against the red ball ahead of the Test summer.

Warner said he was more concerned about how his injured thumb would respond to fielding again rather than how it would affect his batting.

"I'm never nervous," he said with a smile when asked if there would be any nerves before his first hit-out in the nets.

"I think it'll come down to when I have to catch a ball I'll be a little bit hesitant.

"But I've broken this before and I know exactly what I have to do. That's getting it right with the bat first and then we'll worry about the fielding and catching later."