Warne and McGrath to return in tandem

Australia's crown jewels, Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne, will make their long-awaited comebacks within 24 hours of each other, after their lengthy absences through injury and suspension.

McGrath, who has undergone ankle surgery since his disappointing performance against Bangladesh last July, intends to play for a New South Wales second XI in a four-day game against Tasmania on February 9. The very next day, Warne's year-long suspension for taking a banned diuretic comes to an end, as he joins Victoria's second XI for the last three days of their fixture against Queensland.

The initial target for both bowlers is a place in Australia's Test squad for the forthcoming tour to Sri Lanka, although it will be a tough ask for them to regain sufficient form and fitness in so short a time. After a five-match one-day series, the first Test begins on March 8 at Galle.

Nevertheless, Ricky Ponting, who will be taking over from Steve Waugh as Australia's Test captain, was buoyed at the prospect of having his champion bowlers available once again.

"When you know you've got guys like McGrath and Warne to come back it is pretty exciting," said Ponting. "Glenn's probably been frustrated a fair bit over the last few months, having got back and then needing another operation on his ankle. I'm sure he's dying to play again and get back into this Australian side."

Ponting hinted that the absence of Warne and McGrath was a major factor in Australia's disappointing showing against India. "That was probably the most disappointing thing about this summer, the Test series against India, that we didn't ever get a chance to have our full-strength bowling against their full-strength batting attack. That would, I'm sure, have led to even better cricket."

McGrath completed a bowling session in the SCG nets on Wednesday morning, after admitting on Sydney radio that he was confident about his ankle being right. An NSW spokesman added: "He's a pretty good chance of playing in that second-XI match."