LEEDS (Reuters)
Injured Australian captain Steve Waugh has returned to the nets within two weeks of tearing his left calf muscle in two places. Waugh, ruled out of the fourth Test starting at Headingley on Thursday, had a 15-minute net, with the ball being thrown rather than bowled at him.

The Australian camp confirmed that he had not suffered a reaction from the work-out. Waugh's chances of playing in the fifth and final Test at The Oval next week, however, remain small. While the 36-year-old wouldlove to play in what would almost certainly be his final Test in England, he is unlikely to risk a recurrence of the injury which could find him facing a lengthy lay-off.

Waugh, who spent two days on crutches after suffering the injury on the last day of the third Test, has been undergoing 12 hours of treatment a day, made up of physiotherapy, pool and gym work and massages. Australia physio Errol Alcott said that the injury would normally take between four and six weeks to heal but added it would take a brave man to write off the Australia captain.

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