Tait a 'Decent Chance' For Twenty20 WC In South Africa

Shaun Tait has tested out his injured elbow in a novel way by joining an Indian chef in the kitchen. Experiencing heat of a different kind, Tait briefly added cooking chicken korma and fish curry to his rehabilitation programme in Melbourne, where he rated himself a “decent chance” of making the tour to South Africa.

After having surgery in June, Tait has recovered well enough to be named in the Twenty20 World Championship squad, but he is still a few weeks away from his first bowl at the Centre of Excellence in Brisbane.

“I’ll see how the elbow goes in the next couple of weeks to see whether I can get up for it or not,” Tait said. “It feels fine but obviously with bowling a fair bit of stress goes on it. I’m a decent chance but we’ll see how it goes,” he added.

He has no plans to tinker with his technique in spite of regular injuries since playing his first Test in 2005. If fit for the tournament in September, Tait will use the series to prove he is ready for regular action in the following seven-match one-day tour of India before focusing on adding to his two Test appearances. He played his first season of One-day Internationals last summer and his 23 World Cup wickets were crucial to Australia’s overall success.

“There’s going to be some pretty big opportunities coming up,” Tait said. “With Glenn McGrath stepping down I suppose there’s a new door that could be opened and if I get the opportunity hopefully I’ll do well,” he added.

Tait is also excited by the prospect of bowling with Brett Lee, who is due to return in South Africa from ankle surgery. Tait was in the kitchen to launch the general release of tickets for the upcoming Australian summer. Australia will face India in four Tests starting on Boxing Day after playing two matches against Sri Lanka in November. The three sides will also take part in the CB Series while Australia will attempt to regain the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy in December.

Tickets go on sale in Sydney, Adelaide, Hobart and Perth on Wednesday (tomorrow) while seats in Brisbane will be offered on Thursday and in Melbourne on Friday. “The team has had a great record in Australia for the past decade,” Tait said, “and a big part of that success is the encouragement we receive from our green-and-gold army of supporters.”