WELLINGTON (Reuters)
New Zealand allrounder Chris Cairns has suffered a setback in his recovery from a kneeinjury and will not be available for the national side's tour of Pakistan beginning next month, NZ Cricket has said.

Cairns, 31, set the Pakistan tour as a target for his return to international cricket after undergoing surgery nearly six months ago to the patella tendon on his right knee.

But the player's plans have been dashed because of the order of games in Pakistan and some pain in his knee, NZ Cricket's fitness advisor Warren Frost said. The three one-day internationals in Pakistan have been timed at the beginning of the tour, in September, while the three Tests are scheduled for October.

"As the one dayers are first they are too soon for him to target and a Test match would not be a sensible way to reintroduce him to the demands of international cricket," Frost said.

Added to that was a further problem with pain in the knee, which Cairns injured during New Zealand's tour of Africa last year. "It's not the same problem in terms of the tendon but it's sort of slightly inter-linked," Frost told Reuters.

Cairns had started running and doing some other exercises at the NZ Cricket High Performance Centre near Christchurch but he was not bowling yet, Frost said. "Once we've got him running well then we'll move on to the bowling."

Cairns would be likely to return to domestic cricket, he added.

Beyond the Pakistan tour, the next international opportunity for Cairns to play is during a three-Test series in Australia in November, followed by a two-Test tour by Bangladesh in December.

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd