 |  I've got my fingers crossed. I'm pretty confident it's going to be fine Michael Clarke |
Australia batsman Michael Clarke admits he may have to play through the pain barrier during the upcoming World Cup because of his troublesome hip injury.
The New South Wales right-hander has received treatment on the problem for the past fortnight, having pulled out of the one-day series in New Zealand.
But he says he will start the team's opener against Scotland on 13 March.
"I've had a couple of batting sessions and I haven't been getting as much pain, so I'm feeling good," he said.
"I haven't done too much running, so I'll have to do a bit over the next couple of days and see how it pulls up.
"But I've got my fingers crossed. I'm pretty confident it's going to be fine."
The 25-year-old will bat at number four if fit, and his role could be a crucial one with all-rounder Andrew Symonds expected to miss the opening month of the tournament and opener Matthew Hayden struggling with a broken toe.
And, having made 170 runs at an average of 85 in four innings in 2003 in the West Indies, Clarke is keen to impress again on the big stage this time around.
"It's the number one stage for one-day cricket," he said.
"Therefore, I'll be working my backside off over the next couple of weeks to make sure I'm ready to go for the first game."
Team-mate Mike Hussey, meanwhile, says Australia are now "the hunters rather than the hunted" after their run of recent defeats which resulted in them being replaced by South Africa as the game's top-ranked one-day side.
"We really enjoyed being the number one side in the world....we now have to try to get that number one place back," he commented.
"Now we have to try to build up momentum. We haven't had it for the last five games, we have to try to change that, play well and go forward from there.
"We are looking to build up as the tournament goes on and hit our best form in the latter stages."
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