Injured Australian captain Michael Clarke said on Wednesday that his recovery from hamstring surgery was ahead of schedule though it's still unclear whether he will be fit to play the entire World Cup, beginning on February 14.
The 33-year-old Clarke, who is expected to be named skipper of the 15-man Australian squad when it is officially announced on Sunday, said he had begun running since the surgery three weeks ago.
Clarke overcame a left hamstring injury to play the opening Adelaide Test against India. But he suffered a flare-up of his degenerative back condition on day one and retired hurt. However, he returned to the crease next day and completed a courageous hundred.
Clarke then injured his right hamstring while fielding on the final day, with scans ruling him out of the rest of the four-Test series. He had previously said he's unlikely to be fit for Australia's opening match of the World Cup against England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on February 14.
Speaking on Channel Nine's television coverage of the fourth and final Test against India at Sydney Cricket Ground, Clarke said he was experiencing a quicker-than-expected recovery.
"It's going well, it's feeling really good. I'm slowly getting back into my running, but I'm not running too quickly. I just have to make sure I don't do too much and progress as slowly as I need to. But as it is, I'm ahead of schedule and everyone is extremely pleased," Clarke said.
"I'm three weeks post-surgery yesterday and I'm happy, the surgeon is extremely happy and the Australian medical staff are happy," he added.
