Injured Australian all-rounder James Hopes may have only been half joking when he questioned whether Queensland coach Trevor Barsby could find a place for him in a Bulls side that's charged to the top of the one day and Sheffield Shield ladders.

Barsby's Bulls have been on fire in recent weeks with young bowling dynamos Scott Walter and Ben Cutting - who ripped through Tasmania for a career best 6-37 on Monday - putting their cases forward for more permanent spots.

Hopes expects to learn by Monday the full extent of a hamstring tear which saw him return from Australia's one-day international series in India on Thursday.

He has earmarked Queensland's Sheffield Shield clash with Victoria at the MCG (November 27-30) as his comeback game.

"Hopefully I can get a game somewhere there," said Hopes.

Queensland's early success in both forms of domestic cricket had allowed Hopes to "stick it" to some on his Aussie teammates in India after pre-season polls tipped the young, inexperienced Bulls to struggle.

"Once again we've been punching above our weight and if we keep punching above our weight people will eventually work out that that's the weight we punch at," he said.

"We were fortunate to play a lot of games before other teams even started, hopefully we can jump out to a good lead and they feel like they're chasing their tails a bit."

When it was suggested 22 year-old right-arm quick Cutting would be an ideal one day replacement if any more Australian bowlers broke down, Hopes suggested he should just stick with what he was doing at the moment.

"He's still very young and I think he is going to end up bowling quite quick in a few years time," Hopes said

"I think we're just seeing the tip of the iceberg with him and how fast he can actually bowl."

Hopes admits he pushed the boundaries in India after feeling a "ping" in his hamstring in the first game of the series.

"I went off and I tried to go back on but I wasn't allowed go back obviously," he said.

"I was catching bowlers in a warm up and I went down to get a ball and I felt it go again, that's when I knew I was kidding myself about playing in two days' time."