Australia all-rounder Shane Watson has revealed that his recovery from injury is going well ahead of next week's first Ashes Test.
Watson was a major doubt for the Brisbane opener after suffering a hamstring strain in an ODI match against India earlier this month, but he is now confident that he will be able to play against England.
The 32-year-old even hinted that he could be fit enough to bowl as well as bat during the match, but revealed that he was wary of pushing himself too hard in an effort to return to full fitness.
"My bowling depends on how I continue to progress leading into the Test match. At the moment things have progressed well. It is about trying to find a balance between pushing it to see where it is at without pushing it over the edge, which might mean I could miss [the Test] as a batsman alone," Watson told Fox Sports News Australia.
"If everything continues to go the way it is then I could potentially look to bowl at the start of the week leading into the first Test. The last thing I want is to push it over the edge and strain it just trying to get back as a bowler.
"I've been very lucky this time that Darren Lehmann and the medical staff haven't put a massive amount of pressure on me to get back bowling. In a perfect world I will be bowling. We'll see how it progresses."
Australia will be looking to exact a degree of revenge on England following their Ashes defeat this summer.
