Muller to miss Bulls trial

BRISBANE - A knee injury has sidelined former Australian fast bowler Scott Muller for a month and he will miss Queensland's opening trial game of the coming cricket season.

The Bulls will be back in action early next month in a City versus Country two-day trial in Biloela, 350km north-west of Brisbane.

International players Michael Kasprowicz (City) and Wade Seccombe (Country) will captain the respective teams for the match on September 8-9.

But injury has forced Muller to postpone his planned comeback in the match, after undergoing minor surgery this week.

Muller, who had knee surgery last season, was forced to have an arthroscopy on his "good" knee which was expected to sideline him for at least four weeks.

"It's bad luck for Scott as he had made a successful return to bowling and was beginning his pre-season build-up with us," Bulls coach Bennett King said today.

"Hopefully this setback will only be a brief one for him and he can get back into the swing of things for the start of the season."

While Muller was not considered, fellow quick Ashley Noffke has been named to make his return from the ankle injury that cut short his Ashes tour after he was called into the Australian squad to replace Nathan Bracken.

Queensland's other Ashes tourist, Test opener Matthew Hayden, will have a break following his return home to Brisbane today.

Bulls skipper Stuart Law, Martin Love, Jimmy Maher, Andy Bichel and Andrew Symonds are still in England playing county cricket and return home in mid-September.

The trial teams contain several members of the Queensland Under-19 team that won the national championships last season as well as Cairns-based Australian Aboriginal Youth pace bowler Barry Weare and Townsville batsman Brett Wightman.

Both teams will boast a leg-spinner in their ranks - Beenleigh teenager Luke Davis, a member of the Queensland Under-17 and Under-19 teams last season for City and Ingham-born Greg Chiesa, who recently attended the ACB Spinners Camp at the Cricket Academy, for Country.

CITY: Michael Kasprowicz (c), Ryan Broad, Jerry Cassell, Adam Dale, Luke Davis, Chris Hartley, James Hopes, Nick Kruger, Daniel Payne, Matthew Petrie, Craig Philipson, Nathan Rimmington.

COUNTRY: Wade Seccombe (c), Greg Chiesa, Joe Dawes, Nathan Hauritz, Mitchell Johnson, Lance Kahler, Damien Mackenzie, Brendan Nash, Ashley Noffke, Michael Sippel, Barry Weare, Brett Wightman.