Muralitharan resumes bowling in the nets

Muttiah Muralitharan's troublesome shoulder has recovered sufficiently for him to resume bowling and start the final stages of his rehabilitation from an injury that has sidelined him for eight months now.

A delighted Muralitharan has reported no ill effects after his return to the nets on Monday. He has now been bowling around 20 to 40 balls per day. "The shoulder is stiff when I wake up in the morning but there is no pain at all," Muralitharan told Cricinfo. Sri Lanka Cricket's surgeon, Dr. David Young, who had travelled to Chennai last week to attend Murali's wedding, gave him the all clear after a consultation and now expects him to quickly return to competitive cricket.

There had been concerns that Murali could miss a large chunk of his early-season stint with Lancashire because of lingering soreness in a shoulder that was operated upon in August to drain an internal cyst and again in February for an arthroscopy and general clean up. Murali will fly to Lancashire on Monday to start pre-season training in Manchester. His comeback target is a National League one-day game against Glamorgan on April 17 with a possible first-class return against Worcestshire on April 27.

Sri Lanka's last-minute agreement to tour India for a five-match ODI series in late April is not likely to involve Murali, who will not be sufficiently fit by then for a full international return.