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Clarke making slow and steady recovery

Australia's new Twenty20 captain has said he's still hopeful of playing some part of the ODI tour of India starting Sunday. He continues to recover from the lower-back problem which forced him to return home early from the ICC Champions Trophy last month in South Africa.

Clarke is back in training as part of his rehabilitation from the injury that has troubled him over the past couple of years, "It's going okay, I had a bit of a jog this morning which is fantastic," Clarke said. "It's good to get out of the house and get back into the gym but at the moment I'm having regular physio. I'm going pretty slow and steady to be honest but I'm confident that I can continue building on my progress."

He was willing to make the India trip, even if it meant only a few matches towards the end of the seven-ODI series, which ends on November 11. "I'd really like to go there even if it's the last couple of games to help the boys out there and also as preparation leading up to the first Test match (against West Indies in November) in Brisbane."

While eager to return to action as soon as possible, he was wary of making a comeback too soon. "I'm in a position where I'm not willing to risk coming back too early because I want it to be 100% right before I start doing too much."

Australia has a heavy workload in the next few months, and Clarke's injury is proving to be a persistent one, but he was confident he wouldn't need surgery any time soon. "I certainly haven't considered surgery at this stage," he said. "I'm seeing a physio who specializes in backs and she's been fantastic and at this stage we're very confident that I'm not going to need surgery."

Source: http://www.cricinfo.com/indvaus2009/content/current/story/430319.html