A year after injury, fit-again South Africa pacer Dale Steyn set for Titans comeback

Johannesburg: South African fast bowler Dale Steyn is set to make his comeback to cricket after more than a year out of the game with injury. Steyn, 34, was today named in a 13-man Titans squad for a domestic Twenty20 match against the Knights in Kimberley tomorrow.

He has not played since breaking down with a stress fracture of his right shoulder on the second day of the first Test against Australia on November 4, last year. Steyn told the Titans website: "I am ready to go. Yes, I haven't played in a year, but there are no massive expectations.

I am just looking forward to playing again and feeling part of the game. "I'm not asking people to sit back and think I'm going to bowl at 150 kmh and that I'm going to take five wickets. If I can get through the game with minimal damage in terms of economy rate and pick up a wicket or two that would be great."

Steyn needs just five wickets to overtake Shaun Pollock as South Africa's leading all-time Test wicket-taker. He recently received the backing of new South Africa coach Ottis Gibson, who indicated that a fit Steyn would be an automatic choice for the Test side.

"He is Dale Steyn," Gibson told journalists last month. "He is not some average guy from down the road. He is one of the best bowlers the country has ever produced. "If you look him in the eyes and you say, 'Dale are you sure you can make it?' and he says he can make it, then he is getting the opportunity."