Clarke making slow and steady recovery

Michael Clarke, 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 finish 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 have 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 specialises in backs and she's been fantastic and at this stage we're very confident that I'm not going to need surgery."

However, Australian coach Tim Nielsen was more concerned about ensuring Clarke was fit enough to last the Australian summer and beyond, even if it meant not rejoining the squad until the first Test against the West Indies in November, soon after the India ODIs.

"I don't think we can ever guarantee that [his back will be fine], the issues are with discs and things with his back, so I'm not sure they're ever going to be 100 per cent perfect,'' Nielsen told AAP. "He'll have to manage it and he basically gets daily treatment on his back and his body when he's away and playing and travelling, as do most of the blokes."

"So I don't think we can ever guarantee if he comes back saying he's fit now that he's not going to be sore or have flare-ups in the future again. It's important that Michael is 100% right before he comes back and tries to get back into it because he only knows one way and he's going to go 100%, flat-out in the field and bowl and bat as required.

"So there's no point bringing him back half-baked and hoping we can nurse him through, because there's nothing surer that it'd be a recipe for disaster for him.''