Former Australian player Adam Dale will make his long-awaited return from a shoulder injury in Darwin later this month.

Dale, who underwent major surgery to his right shoulder in November last year after playing the first Pura Cup match for Queensland, will play his first game in nine months for the Queensland Academy of Sport in the annual State Institutes' Challenge from August 23.

The 31-year-old right-arm swing bowler will use the round-robin one-day tournament to test his full recovery from the surgery and ensuing rehabilitation as well as gain valuable playing time as the XXXX Queensland Bulls enter their pre-season build-up.

The only Queensland member of the 1999 World Cup champion team, Dale has taken 188 first class wickets for the Bulls at 21.71.

He will be the most experienced player in the QAS team, with off-spinner Scott O'Leary and opening batsman Daniel Payne also having tasted first class cricket.

Wicket-keeper Chris Hartley is in his second year in the Bulls squad while pace bowler Steve Magoffin, Australian Under-19 batsman Craig Philipson and opening batsman Chris Simpson are all Queensland rookie-contracted players in 2002-03.

Simpson, who scored 113 last week for the Commonwealth Bank Cricket Academy against their South African counterparts in Townsville, will captain the QAS team.

The Darwin series features academy or institute of sport teams from Queensland, NSW, Victoria, and Tasmania as well the CBCA and the Northern Territory representative team.

Included in the Queensland team are promising Toowoomba duo Cameron Glass and Peter Reimers, who were key performers in the Queensland Country team that won the national championships in Warrnambool last season. Glass, a 21-year-old right-arm pace bowler, and Reimers, a 19-year-old allrounder, are members of the QAS Regional cricket program.

Queensland Academy of Sport team: Chris Simpson (c), Duncan Betts, Adam Dale, Luke Davis, Ben Edmondson, Cameron Glass, Chris Hartley, Nick Kruger, Steve Magoffin, Scott O'Leary, Daniel Payne, Matthew Petrie, Craig Philipson, Peter Reimers. Coach: Richard Done.

© 2002 Queensland Cricket Association

This report does not necessarily represent the views of the Australian Cricket Board.