Michael Clarke is on track to play in next month's first Test against Pakistan, Cricket Australia says, despite its edict restricting him from running for at least a fortnight.
Clarke will travel to the United Arab Emirates at least a week early due to his lingering hamstring injury, as part of a new plan to combat the captain's trait of getting sore or injured after long-haul flights.
His reduced schedule will extend to the home summer, and will involve him missing some training sessions and probably one-day matches to reduce the prospect of getting injured.
"That's probably the thing we're going to try to change the most because a lot of the other risk factors we can't change," said team physiotherapist Alex Kountouris.
"He'll be there [in the UAE] well before he needs to be doing stuff over there."
Kountouris said Clarke would resume jogging this week, "but it will take another two or three weeks before we're really testing him at any sort of intensity".
"We don't think it's safe for him to be going any harder than he's going to be in the next couple of weeks, because tendons, unlike muscles, take a bit longer to heal ... and they're also more prone to recurrence.
"When someone has a tendon involvement in their injury we try and be a bit more conservative in their management."
While a three-week restriction would give Clarke only a fortnight of running before the first Test on October 22, Kountouris said the timeframes for Clarke to play the first Test were realistic.
"We're planning like he's not going to miss it, but he's not a sure thing to play it either," he said.
"There's never a good time for these things. If we wait for the second Test or the first one-dayer against South Africa, or whatever we wait for, it's a risk, but we're going to have to play him at some point."
Since the start of 2012, Clarke has suffered hamstring injuries on at least seven occasions.
Since February 2012, he has played in only half of Australia's 56 one-dayers.
Kountouris said team medical staff were increasingly convinced Clarke's hamstring problems were related to his degenerative back problems, but had yet to fully understand the link. They are seeking advice from experts in a bid to learn more.
Despite Clarke's unflattering one-day appearance record in recent years, he has only missed two Tests in the past eight years.
Until the latest injury, which emerged at the start of the one-day tri-series in Zimbabwe and flared in his only appearance in the series, Clarke had gone 17 months without a hamstring injury.
PUP'S STRING OF 'STRINGS
Hamstring injuries suffered by Michael Clarke since February 2012.
Feb 2012 (right leg): Missed two matches of home ODI tri-series v Sri Lanka and India
Feb 2012 (right leg): Returned, then missed another two matches of home ODI tri-series v Sri Lanka and India
Mar 2012 (left leg): Missed last match of home ODI tri-series v Sri Lanka and India, and five-match ODI series away to West Indies
Dec 2012 (right leg): Retired in 2nd innings of first Test v Sri Lanka at Hobart. Held place for next Test
Feb 2013 (right leg): Missed last match of home ODI series v West Indies, due to recurrence
Aug 2014 (left leg): Missed first two matches of ODI tri-series in Zimbabwe, which also featured South Africa
Aug 2014 (left leg): Injured in return match, missed last two matches of ODI tri-series in Zimbabwe.
