Mills wanted Twenty20 comeback

Kyle Mills says he was disappointed not to make New Zealand's Twenty20 World Championship squad but conceded it was best for his injured knee if he delayed his return until the start of the domestic season. Mills had been hoping to ease back into international cricket in South Africa in September, in the shortest form of the game.

However, he was not named in the 30-man preliminary squad as he continues to recover from the left knee problem that has kept him out of action since January. "My initial thoughts were that [I should have gone]," Mills told the Herald on Sunday. "Twenty20 format, four overs a game, every second day - I thought it would be ideal really."

The selectors had to convince Mills that it would be risky to throw him into the frantic pace of Twenty20 cricket. "It might have been the worst environment to make my comeback in," he said. "It's going to be pretty intense as it is and trying to ease a knee recovery through that, while the batsman's trying to smash you out of the park each ball, it might not have been the ideal situation.

"The other aspect of it is diving around in the field. So, even though I'm as keen as to get back into it, I've got to take the view that there's more to it than the next three or four months." Mills is three weeks into his rehab programme and has started bowling off a half run-up. He hopes to be available for the start of New Zealand's domestic tournaments.