Australia captain Michael Clarke appears to be winning his World Cup fitness race after revealing that his injury recovery is "ahead of schedule".
The 33-year-old suffered a hamstring problem in the first-Test win over India in December and initially ruled himself out of the opening game of the tournament against England in Melbourne next month.
However, that may have changed considering that Clarke is back running only three weeks after surgery, and will be named as skipper when the Aussies confirm their final 15-man squad on Sunday regardless.
"It's going well; it's feeling really good," he told Channel Nine. "I'm slowly getting back into my running, but I'm not running too quickly. I'm three weeks post-surgery yesterday and I'm happy, the surgeon is extremely happy and the Australian medical staff are happy.
"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."
Steve Smith has been leading the Test team in Clarke's absence and became only the third player to make centuries in four consecutive matches during the same series with his hundred against India at the SCG.
