Hampshire signing Jackson Bird is hoping to make his latest comeback from injury before Christmas.

Tall and blessed with the ability to swing the ball, the seamer has been signed by Hampshire for the first three months of next season.

But back problems have restricted the 27-year-old Australian to a career total of 24 first-class appearances, including three Tests, and he was forced to pull out of a stint with Northamptonshire six months ago.

‘‘I was probably rushed back twice to get ready for some tours, which hampered my injury a little not having that proper rest,’’ said Bird, who has taken an impressive 115 first-class wickets at 20.48 since making his debut three years ago.

‘‘That was something that Cricket Australia wanted to do, and it is also something that I wanted to do, so I’m not upset about that, because I got to go play in the Ashes and got to tour South Africa.

‘‘But this time I am taking it slower.’’ Bird has not played for seven months and is not sure when he will play again for Tasmania.

Speaking to his local paper, The Examiner, he continued: “We need to see how I go in the next couple of weeks, especially with my technical stuff and whether I can keep that all in place when I get back to going off the full run.

‘‘We’ll see how that goes over the next couple of months. Hopefully I can come out and play [for Tasmania] before Christmas.

“It is a week-by-week thing at the moment, but doctors are very confident this will be the last time that this is going to happen.

‘‘I’m in the gym now and running and I’ve also been bowling for about three or four weeks now, which is a good sign.’’ Bird, who has taken 13 wickets from three Tests at 23.3, hopes his Hampshire stint will prepare him well for the Ashes.

‘‘I expect the wickets to have a little bit more in them in this Ashes series now they [England] don’t have [off-spinner] Graeme Swann playing for them,” he said.

‘‘But my focus is making sure that I can get my back right, as I can’t afford to get injured again.

‘‘If I do get back on the park and start bowling well again, there’s no reason why I can’t make the Ashes next year, but there’s a lot of cricket before that happens.’’