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Australia's captain Michael Clarke
has conceded he is far from guaranteed to be fit in time for the first
Ashes Test in Brisbane next month, as his chronic back trouble grows
increasingly stubborn.
Having been ruled out of the limited overs tour to India that precedes
the home series against England, Clarke showed unusual pessimism about
his fitness when discussing his chances of returning to full strength
and flexibility in time for the Gabba.
There were grim tidings also from James Pattinson,
who had originally hoped to recover from a back stress fracture he
picked up in England in time to contend for a Brisbane pace berth.
Instead he admitted he was now well behind that schedule, and was
looking at a place in the Perth Test as one of four fast bowlers as his
earliest chance to resume in Test matches.
Since returning home from England, Clarke has undergone daily treatment
on his back, and between now and the start of the Ashes the Australian
team physio Alex Kountouris is readying himself to make frequent flights
from Melbourne to Sydney to spend as much time as possible with his
most pivotal patient.
However the process of constant work to strengthen Clarke has been
progressing slowly, and there is always the danger of a relapse such as
the one that curtailed his Champions Trophy campaign before the Ashes in
England.
"There's certainly no guarantee at this stage," Clarke said at the
national team's pre-season camp in Sydney. "It's hard for me to say that
because I'm trying my best not to look at it like that. I'm always
positive and if they ask me, I'll say I'll be fit in a week's time. But
you ask Alex who knows me very well, and he'd say there'd be doubt I
won't be right. Making sure I'm doing everything I can to give myself
the best chance ... plenty of rehab and recovery getting strength back
in the areas that support my back. It's a lot of hard work but I'm
willing to do the work to make sure I'm right for that first Test.
"Where I sit right now is I don't know when I'll be back playing
cricket. We have no idea how long it's going to take. But in Australia
I've got the physio in Sydney I've been working with since I was 17,
I've got the machine, the medics machine that's helped me stay on the
park for as long as I have through my career, and I'm in consistent
contact with Alex Kountouris who will fly back and forth from Melbourne
to Sydney to see me and make sure I'm improving."
Clarke's ideal preparation for the Gabba will be to regain full mobility
in time to play in the Sheffield Shield matches scheduled to lead-in to
the Ashes, granting him the chance to gain confidence and batting form
before facing England's pacemen once more. "My best preparation has
always been to play cricket and score runs doesn't matter what form of
the game," Clarke said. "If I'm playing games of cricket and performing
that helps me take it into one day cricket or test cricket. I probably
train harder than what you have to do in game so playing is probably
easier for me mentally and physically with the work that goes into it."
Pattinson had fought back tears
when his Ashes campaign in England was ended during the Lord's Test by
back pain that was revealed to be a fracture. While speaking more
happily with the benefit of a few months in the recovery room, he is yet
to resume running let alone bowling, and remains a long distance from
fitness.
"I'm not even running yet which is not great," Pattinson said. "I get a
scan in two weeks time which is a 12 week scan to determine whether the
fracture has healed or not. Go from there, get results back from scan
start running, should be fine. My back feels fine at the moment, I have
no pain. Just a bit of a long process. I'm probably a month off bowling.
"I won't be back for the first Test, don't think I'll be right for the
second ... but all things going well I could push for that WACA Test. If
it's a bit green we could play four quicks up there, but I'll know more
when I start bowling. I'm probably rushing a bit if I'm trying to get
back for that first Test and last thing I want is for that to happen
again and push my body too far and it's hard enough going through it
once without going through it again. Long term is where I'm looking."
Daniel Brettig is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. He tweets here
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© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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