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Australia all-rounder Shane Watson is hoping to be back to full fitness “in about a week” but is not pushing for selection for the tail end of the triangular one-day series against India and Sri Lanka.
The 30-year-old Watson has not played for Australia since he suffered a calf injury on the tour of South Africa last November, though he played club cricket in Sydney on Saturday and is looking to play a first class game for New South Wales next week.
“It's been a very frustrating couple of months. It's something I love doing so much, so I missed it a lot,” Watson told reporters in Sydney.
“There's been a few false starts over the last month or so, so to be able to get through the game was the most important thing.”
Watson said he expected to be fully fit in “about another week or so” but would get a true test of his fitness in the Sheffield Shield match against Western Australia that starts on Friday in Perth.
“If I'm able to get through a Shield game then and get some bowling into me in that Shield game, I feel like I will be ready to be able to play one-day cricket,” he added.
“But I'm not getting too far in front of myself.
“I know how important the next few days are to recover.”
If he got through the first class match unhindered, he could feature in Australia's match against Sri Lanka in Hobart on Feb. 24. There are two further games in the triangular series to play after that for the hosts before the best-of-three finals.
