Kasprowicz returns after back injury

Michael Kasprowicz will today make his comeback from a back injury that has kept him out of the game for eight months. Kasprowicz will line up for University in Brisbane club cricket as he works his way towards full fitness.

He has not played a first-class match since early April, when he and Brett Lee carried Australia to victory in the third Test against South Africa at Johannesburg. But a disc problem that he picked up in that game, combined with a groin strain he sustained during Australia's boot camp in August, has hampered his chances of playing a role in the Ashes series.

Kasprowicz said he would strictly limit himself to ten overs in his comeback match. "Even if I'm on a hat-trick on the first ball of my 11th over I'll say 'no'. I want to get it right," he told AAP. "It's the biggest setback of my career, for 18 years of first-class cricket."

But he will increase his workload next weekend with two days of grade cricket and he hopes to be available for Queensland's Pura Cup game against South Australia in two weeks. Kasprowicz said he had not given up hope of again playing for Australia. "Nothing will change," he said. "I've always concentrated on doing well for Queensland and when I enjoy doing that other things happen."