England skipper Alastair Cook is on track to return for his team’s four-day game against Australia A in Hobart, starting next Wednesday.

Cook was forced to miss this week’s match against the WACA Chairman’s XI after arriving in Australia with a stiff back.

The 28-year-old was able to complete a net and gym session on Thursday and paceman Chris Tremlett predicts his skipper will be ready to roll in Hobart next week.

“By all accounts he’s feeling a lot better,” Tremlett said.

“I think he had a bit of a stiff back over the last couple of days.

“But he’s been in the nets and in the gym, and he’s been in good spirits in the dressing room.”

England’s bowlers struggled badly on the first day of their contest against the WACA Chairman’s XI, with the pace quartet of James Anderson, Tremlett, Boyd Rankin and Steven Finn combining for just two wickets.

Rankin was punished for a series of full tosses early in his spell, while Tremlett and Finn also struggled to find the right line and length.

The WACA Chairman’s XI went to stumps at 4-365, but Tremlett said there was no reason to panic.

“The pitch probably wasn’t what we were expecting compared to what the net conditions had been like the last couple of days,” Tremlett said.

“But that’s no excuse.

“We were pretty inconsistent.

“I think we were all a little bit rusty, and we probably struggled with our length more than anything.

“We were a little bit too short, and a bit too full at times.

“If you’re bowling badly a few days before the Test match, that’s when you’re going to be panicking a little bit.

“But I think we can all take some good things out of our first day. We all had some good spells at times, but we were a bit off the radar as a whole.”

Paceman Stuart Broad, star batsman Kevin Pietersen and spinner Graeme Swann were also rested for the WACA clash, but all three are expected to feature in Hobart.