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Clarke sore but eager to tour India

Australian captain Michael Clarke hopes his troublesome back will allow him to play in the one-day series in India, but has offered few clues about how the team will turnaround its Test fortunes against England.

Clarke arrived back in Sydney on Wednesday evening at the end of a long campaign which included a 2-1 victory in the one-day series and a 3-0 Test series defeat.

His back flared up before the final ODI and Clarke said he would consult team physiotherapist Alex Kountouris and probably undergo scans, but was hopeful he could go to India.

"No doubt it's quite stiff and sore," Clarke said at Sydney Airport.

"But I'll be guided by the experts on what I need to do now to try and get myself as fit as I can be."

Clarke insisted there was a lot of positives to come out of the tour, including the one-day series win and the improved performance over the last three Tests.

He wasn't giving anything away when asked what Australia needed to do better to turn their Test fortunes around for the return series starting in November.

"I don't think it's right to go into specifics, we just have to play better cricket more consistently," Clarke said.

"In patches we played some really good cricket, but over a five-Test series you've got to be at your best consistently throughout the whole time and we just didn't quite do that."

Clarke was encouraged by the efforts of paceman Mitchell Johnson, who is firming as a chance to play in the first Test in Brisbane in late November after impressing in the one-day series in England.

"He's bowling with good pace and swinging the ball, so that was a real positive for the team over in the UK and let's hope that can continue in India for him," Clarke said.

He was philosophical about another spate of injuries to Australia's pacemen, with Ryan Harris, Jackson Bird, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and James Pattinson all sidelined.

"You've got young fast bowlers that are playing a lot of cricket, three different forms of the game, It (injuries) is part and parcel of what's going to happen," Clarke said.

"I think we're very lucky that we only have the amount (injured) we have.

"I think our support staff do a fantastic job in looking after the fast bowlers."