Murali to miss first leg of New Zealand tour

Muttiah Muralitharan will miss the first leg of Sri Lanka's tour of New Zealand after the selectors decided that he needed to prove his fitness first. Marvan Atapattu had urged the selectors to let Muralitharan accompany the team right from the start, but they have chosen instead to ask him to step up his rehabilitation at home.

The selectors are also keen for him to bowl in a domestic match, and he will try to play in a board-organised internal practice game on Dec 27 to prove his fitness. This means that he will not be able to be monitored closely by CJ Clarke, the team physiotherapist, although he will have access to Sri Lanka Cricket masseurs. It will also reduce the risk of him being rushed back too early, as has happened in the past, particularly during the last tour of England in 2002.

Nevertheless, Murali remains confident that his right shoulder will have recovered sufficiently for him to participate in the Test series, which starts at Hamilton on January 15. At the moment, he is working furiously hard in the team gymnasium at Sri Lanka Cricket's headquarters, and is regularly treating the shoulder with ice-packs.

He has also resumed bowling in the nets after Dr David Young, his Melbourne-based surgeon, pronounced himself satisfied with the speed of his recovery. Muralitharan currently bowls 24 balls every other day, and that workload will be gradually increased during the course of the month.

The shoulder is still painful, but that was always expected to be the case until it had healed completely.