Black Caps bowler Ben Sears back from injury and 'feeling good'

Black Caps fast bowler Ben Sears said he felt good bowling at full intensity again and was confident in his knee injury recovery.

The 26-year-old had been out of action for three-and-a-half months after tearing his left meniscus, training in the nets in Sri Lanka.

After surgery and rehab - he took a wicket from his first ball back in the Super Smash playing for the Wellington Firebirds this month. Three days later, he was named in the Black Caps squad, ahead of the Champions Trophy in Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates.

Sears told 1News he did not initially expect to be selected again so quickly.

"It was a little bit surprising but it's awesome to get the opportunity... The guys have been going really well. Like watching Jacob Duffy - he's a good mate of mine - just playing awesome in that last series."

The ODI format is new to Sears. "I haven't played one-day cricket before, so it's going to be exciting," he said.

When asked how he stayed calm on the pitch as an up-and-comer, Sears said it was a case of "just trying to keep it simple, just doing the simple things over and over and over again to just give yourself the best chance to perform".

"The rest of that stuff you can't control really."

He said the knee injury was "frustrating", but he had had "great support".

"I'm confident to move forward."

Off the pitch, he was able to spend more time on his law degree and with family while recovering.

"I just picked up a summer paper at uni, ticked it over, obviously there's quite a bit of rehab involved getting back going and yeah... It was cool just to have some time off over Christmas time, which is a bit unusual playing cricket."

Firebirds physio Gavin Cross said the rehab had focused on "activating the quads, making sure they're doing the work that they're supposed to be doing for a fast bowler, and then it was adding in the hamstrings and the glutes".

Cross also said: "In terms of [Sears'] specific injury, as that leg comes through and lands, there's a lot of force going through... Ben's been absolutely excellent in terms of his rehab, so in terms of re-injury, there's not much of a risk now."

Cross said the decision about surgery had been a "team approach" with the Black Caps.

"All of us met probably four times prior to any decision being made."

Sears said he had been bowling "at full intensity for a couple of weeks now, so it's well underway, and yeah, I'm feeling good".