O'Keefe pleased to be back in action after calf injury

Australia left-arm spinner Steve O'Keefe, who is set to return from a lengthy injury layoff in the Tests in Sri Lanka later this month, has said a stint at the MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai helped him get warmed up for the series. O'Keefe, who last turned out for Australia in a Test against West Indies in Sydney in January, had been nursing a calf injury. He trained with 16 other Australians in Chennai for a week from July 4, including others from the squad for the Sri Lanka series: Joe Burns, Peter Nevill and Jackson Bird.

"It was a really good opportunity to - a lot of the main guys had already been in the West Indies and had sort of acclimatised being able to play on slow wickets [in the Caribbean]. So for myself, Jackson Bird, Peter Nevill and Joe Burns, it was a really good opportunity to acclimatise and get used to what will probably be similar conditions in Sri Lanka," O'Keefe said after the Australia players arrived in Sri Lanka.

O'Keefe has not played competitive cricket since February, when he represented New South Wales against Western Australia in the Sheffield Shield. Training in Chennai offered him a chance to get relatively match fit, he said. "We were fortunate enough to be able to train with the MRF fast bowlers. We were also able to get a game in. For myself, I haven't played for about four months, so it was great to be able to get 90 overs in these conditions and bowl 20 overs in a game scenario. It's a really invaluable experience which puts me in a good position to turn up [in Sri Lanka] and hit the ground running.

"We've got a really good, extended, pre-season, pre-tour before we play our first game, so I feel like I'm in a pretty good position, like the other guys are as well. I missed the end of the Shield season. I had plenty of time to get fit and go away from the game, but now I'm hungry and ready to play."

Australia have over two weeks before the first Test starts in Pallekele on July 26, which gives them ample time to familiarise themselves with the conditions. O'Keefe acknowledged two spinners could come into play in these conditions, and said he was happy to bowl alongside Australia's first-choice Test spinner Nathan Lyon.

"Steve Smith, the captain, always talks about being adaptable and assessing conditions as quickly as possible. I guess in these conditions, they're going to spin a little bit more than at home, but that poses a whole different challenge in itself: how quickly you bowl, what kind of shape you put in the ball [...] We've got 16 days before the first game, so we've got plenty of time to try a few things out, get yourself in a good place. And look, if there's a need for two spinners, myself and Gazza [Nathan Lyon] are here, and I'll be ready to go."