Lee set to return against England

Brett Lee would be back in action after missing two games in the NatWest series © Getty Images

Brett Lee is set to play against England in the NatWest series game at Durham, after showing good progress on his sore shoulder. Lee, who missed the first two games of the tournament, sustained the injury after receiving a blow on his shoulder from an Andrew Flintoff delivery in the Twenty20 match last week.

"He's been responding really well, I'm really happy with his progress," Errol Alcott, the Australian physiotherapist, was quoted as saying in Sydney Morning Herald. "It was really just to see how he goes out in the middle. It was a bit structured to start with but then we decided to let him loose a bit more. He bowled five overs off his long run. Now it's just a matter of seeing whether there's a reaction.

"He had a pre-existing shoulder complaint four or five years ago that originally we thought he might have made worse," Alcott continued. "It turns out it was just a bit of a stirring up of that injury. There's irritation of certain structures in the shoulder but no permanent damage."

However, Alcott added that Lee did not feel any pain in his first bowling session and expected him to be fit for the crucial clash against England. Australia, who have had a dismal start to their Ashes tour, including a shocking defeat against Bangladesh, would be bolstered by the fire of Lee, especially since Jason Gillespie and Michael Kasprowicz have made little impact on the tour so far.

Andrew Symonds is also set to return to the squad after serving a two-match ban for disciplinary reasons.