Veteran Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon has revealed he told coach Andrew McDonald that he was ready to feature in the 50-over World Cup and would love to be flown to India.
The 35-year-old has not played any cricket since the second Ashes Test at Lord's, where he suffered a calf injury.
But he'll make his return in grade cricket for North District Cricket Club next weekend.
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He said he flicked McDonald a message after left-arm orthodox tweaker Ashton Agar was omitted from the squad last week, having also suffered a calf injury.
Batter Marnus Labuschagne replaced Agar in the squad, meaning Australia headed into the World Cup with only one specialist spinner in leggie Adam Zampa.
"I sent Andrew McDonald a text message the other day when I saw Ashton Agar was ruled out," Lyon said.
"I said, 'Just to let you know, I'm back bowling 10 overs, I'm right to go, 100 per cent'.
"If that happened, I'd do anything to go over and play the World Cup.
"The squad they've got there looks pretty exciting … and I'm pretty excited about tonight, to be honest."
Lyon has undergone three months of rehabilitation on his calf and is now eager to crack back into a format that's provided him scarce opportunities.
While Zampa has played 85 one-day internationals and has long been Australia's specialist limited-overs spinner, Lyon has only appeared in 29 ODIs.
"I'd be more than comfortable going in there and doing it if I had to," Lyon added.
"But in saying that, there has to be a lot of things go wrong, so let's hope for Australia's sake that doesn't happen. Hopefully they go out there and have a really good campaign."
Lyon is expected to take his 500th Test wicket during Australia's three-Test series against Pakistan this summer, featuring matches in Perth, Melbourne and Sydney.
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