Warne will be given as much time as possible to recover

The 34-year-old broke a bone in his left hand after being struck by a Darren Gough delivery while batting in Hampshire's win over Essex.

"Shane consulted with a hand specialist in England and the pleasing news is that he won't require surgery," said Cricket Australia's Dr Trefor James.

"At this stage it appears as if he is a 50-50 prospect of being available."

James added: "In consultation with the medics at Hampshire, we will be doing everything possible to speed his recovery."

If he isn't 100% fit then he won't be selected Australia selector Trevor Hohns

Australia will face Sri Lanka in Darwin from 1-5 July and Cairns from 9-13 July.

New South Wales leg spinner Stuart MacGill could replace Warne if he is ruled out, but Australia have yet to put a replacement on standby.

"Shane will be doing everything he can to get himself right and we will give him as much time to do that as possible," said selector Trevor Hohns.

"But if he isn't 100% fit then he won't be selected. We just want to see how the injury progresses over the next few weeks before looking at that scenario."

Have Your Say Could Warne be replaced?

Hampshire physio Paddy Farhard predicted on Friday that Warne would be out of action for three to five weeks.

He is hoping to renew his spinning duel with Muttiah Muralitharan in the Sri Lanka series.

Warne has taken 517 Test wickets and is 10 wickets behind the world mark held by Muralitharan.