Rested Australian captain Michael Clarke has reportedly returned to the nets in a bid to speed up his recovery from his chronic back problem with some domestic games, handing a boost to Australia for the winter Ashes series.
The batsman, who was considered a major doubt for the series after being ruled out of the recent one-day series in India with the latest recurrence of his back problem, is one of a string of injury worries that have hampered the hosts' preparations ahead of the first Ashes Test on November 21.
According to the Mirror, however, Australia physiotherapist Alex Kountouris said he believes that Clarke should be fit for his domestic club side New South Wales' second match of the Sheffield Shield season against Victoria as he is progressing well and recently recommenced batting in the nets.
Kountouris further said that although they are aiming to have Clarke fit to play the second round of the Shield season at this stage, they have still ruled out the possibility of him playing the first round of the Shield season if he makes better than expected progress.