England captain Michael Vaughan is confident of making a comeback from the knee injury, which forced him out of the Test series against India and is looking to Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne for inspiration.
The Yorkshire batsman played down fears that his long-term problem could be career-threatening.
"I'm very optimistic and enthusiastic about the game of cricket and I certainly won't rule myself out of playing cricket again in the future," he was quoted as saying on the England Cricket Board (ECB) website.
England coach Duncan Fletcher was hopeful on Tuesday that Vaughan's injury was nothing serious.
"At the moment we just feel it probably might be just a niggle," he told reporters. "If it turns out to be a permanent thing, it is a big concern."
The 31-year-old Vaughan is returning home to have further checks, having undergone surgery on his right knee after the problem flared up during the tour of Pakistan late last year.
"There have been better players with bigger injuries than this one that have come back," Vaughan said.
"I remember Glenn McGrath a few years ago had nine or 10 months out of the game, and Shane Warne had 12 months out of the game with a shoulder injury.
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Vaughan said he would not try to rush his comeback.
"If it is possible in three weeks I can come back and play the one-day games I will do that, but I certainly won't do that if there's any chance I could end up like I did today (Tuesday)," he added.
England enter the first Test starting on Wednesday without fast bowler Simon Jones, who pulled out with a left knee injury suffered in the nets on Monday, while Marcus Trescothick has already returned home for personal reasons.
Vaughan was confident all-rounder Andrew Flintoff would do well captaining the side for the first time.
"Andrew is the right choice," he said. "It's going to be difficult because he's got an inexperienced team to take out with him but I'm sure he'll go out and give it his best shot as he does when he's a player."