SYDNEY (Reuters)
Australian cricket captain Steve Waugh is receiving medication to thin his blood because of complications with the leg injury he suffered on the Ashes tour, his manager says.

The 36-year-old Waugh developed a blood clot in his lower left leg when he tore a calf muscle during the third Ashes Test against England at Trent Bridge. Waugh's manager Robert Joske confirmed on Sunday that the Australian skipper was receiving treatment to thin his blood but dismissed a local newspaper report which said Waugh had contracted the potentially fatal deep vein thrombosis.

"He's been having ongoing treatment for his calf tear, that's all it is at this stage, nothing more," Joske said. "He is having his blood thinned but that's just part of getting him back on the field quickly.

Joske said Waugh would miss next weekend's start of the Australian domestic season but would be ready for the first Test against New Zealand starting on November 8. "We're expecting him to be fit and ready to be playing, probably in about two weeks' time," Joske said.

"We haven't actually set any schedules on it but we will be taking medical advice on that. It's a matter of when Steve's feeling fit and ready to go. We won't race him back into it. There's a big cricket season ahead and we want to make sure that he's fit for it."

Waugh's injury forced him to miss the fourth Ashes Test, which Australia lost, but he returned to play in the fifth and final game, scoring a courageous unbeaten century. Australia won that match to take the series 4-1.

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