 Hoggard has been dogged by injury this year |
Dates: 18-22 December
Starts: 0430 GMT
Venue: Galle
Swing bowler Matthew Hoggard could be in line for a return to the England team in time for the third Test against Sri Lanka which starts on 18 December.
The 30-year-old missed the second Test draw in Colombo after being plagued by a back injury in the opening match.
"The medical team tell me he is progressing nicely," said England skipper Michael Vaughan.
"Hopefully come Sunday and Monday he is available for selection. Having Hoggard fit will be a real bonus."
Hoggard suffered the injury while bowling on the fourth day of the 88-run first Test defeat and had to ask for a runner when batting on the final day.
The Yorkshire bowler, who claimed six wickets in Kandy, has been dogged by injuries all year.
He missed the last Ashes Test in Sydney, broke down in the first Test of four against the West Indies, and made just one further start for England last summer.
And England coach Peter Moores says Hoggard will not be forced into action in Galle if there is any risk of the injury recurring.
"Matthew has bowled two spells pretty well flat out so we will see the reaction he gets to it," Moores told BBC Radio 5 Live.
"He got a little bit of pain on a couple of balls which shows that it is not quite there but we are still four days off a Test match. He will bowl a couple of spells on Saturday and Sunday and then we will see how it goes.
"We can only play him if there is no risk that anything will happen because the conditions out here mean that if you did lose a bowler, then it would become very difficult to get 20 wickets."
Moores believes his side go into the third Test full of confidence as they try and square the series.
He says he is particularly pleased with England's batsmen, particularly with the way the dealt with leading Test wicket-taker Muttiah Muralitharan in the second Test.
Muralitharan took only one wicket from 27 overs in the second innings in Colombo and Moores added: "We are gaining momentum.
"I don't know if Sri Lanka are losing momentum but we are gaining it because we are playing Murali better all the time.
"We also played their seamers well so our batsmen are getting settled and are ready to produce that score we will need to win the Test match.
"We have got another three or four days to get our plans together and I think we will go there quite confident, if we play good cricket we can win the game."
The third Test in Galle will be the first since the Boxing Day 2004 tsunami devastated the southern Sri Lankan coast.
And Sri Lanka skipper Mahela Jayawardene says walking out at the re-built international stadium will be "an emotional thing".
"A lot of our guys come from down south and they have lost quite a few relatives in the tsunami," he said.
"But we have moved forward as a nation and a team, we just need to concentrate on the cricket in hand.
"I think it is going to be more of a celebration at Galle rather than anything else. We will remember the people but it is a fresh new start for us in that province."
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