Brett Lee named for New South Wales return

Brett Lee will make his return for New South Wales on Sunday after a year in which he has been almost permanently sidelined by injuries. Lee has been named in the squad for the Ryobi Cup one-day match against Western Australia at Sydney's Hurstville Oval, in what will be his first appearance for his state since a one-dayer on November 15 last year.

A serious elbow injury caused him problems after that game and it prompted his retirement from Test cricket, although he had already missed the 2009 Ashes due to a side strain. He briefly returned this year for the IPL but made an early exit after breaking his thumb, and was then ruled out of the World Twenty20 due to a muscle strain in his right forearm.

Despite his long list of ailments, Lee still wants to be part of Australia's ODI and Twenty20 setups and has his sights set on the World Cup in February. He made his return to Sydney's grade cricket on the weekend and picked up 2 for 31 in a ten-over spell, and is expected to flit between Sydney and Wellington next month to maximise his game time.

The Blues have also regained Phillip Hughes as part of the 13-man group for the clash with the Warriors after his return home from Australia's Test tour of India. However, they have lost his fellow opener David Warner, who has flown to India to be part of Australia's one-day international squad.

New South Wales squad Phillip Hughes, Phil Jaques, Nic Maddinson, Usman Khawaja, Brad Haddin (wk), Ben Rohrer, Moises Henriques, Sean Abbott, Steve O'Keefe, Brett Lee, Scott Coyte, Stuart Clark (capt), Trent Copeland.