LONDON — Australia captain Michael Clarke hopes to be fit to return for Monday's final Champions Trophy Group A game against Sri Lanka after missing the first two matches with a back injury. “I'm hopeful, no doubt about that, but I really have to wait to see how I pull up tomorrow morning after training again today,” he told a news conference Sunday. “My back is certainly improving, which is a positive.” Australia lost its opener to England before its clash with New Zealand was rained off, meaning it sits bottom of the group with one point knowing defeat at the Oval Monday will knock it out of the tournament. Clarke's recurring back trouble has led to speculation he could be a doubt for some of the five-Test Ashes series in England which starts at Trent Bridge on July 10. “Yes I'm confident (of playing in all of the Ashes), but I was confident I'd play every game in this series so you are asking the wrong guy,” he said. Pietersen confirms return England batsman Kevin Pietersen has confirmed he will return to cricket with Surrey in its County Championship fixture away to Yorkshire next week. The 32-year-old South Africa-born shotmaker has not played since March because of a knee injury and now faces a race against time to prove his fitness for the first Ashes Test against Australia at Nottingham's Trent Bridge ground on July 10. Surrey's match against Yorkshire, which starts Friday, has long been penciled in as the fixture where Pietersen would return to action. It ought to be the first of two matches in which Pietersen can play before the first Test and he said Sunday he would be making his come back against Yorkshire. Asked by a Twitter follower if he would be playing at Headingley, Yorkshire's headquarters ground in Leeds, northern England, Pietersen replied: “YES I AM!” Regarded as the most talented batsman in the England set-up, former captain Pietersen has scored 7,499 runs, including 22 hundreds, in 94 Tests at an impressive average of 49.01. — Agencies
