 |
|
||
 |
|||
 |
 |
 |
   |  | |||||||||||||||||||||
Flintoff will be out for 12 weeks
 Flintoff's injury became apparent nearly two months ago. England captain Andrew Flintoff is to have an operation on his injured ankle and will be out of action for 12 weeks, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced on Saturday. The all-rounder will miss the three remaining Test matches against Pakistan and all of the five-match one-day series scheduled for this summer. He must also be a major doubt for the Champions Trophy in India, which starts on October 7, one week before the end of Flintoff's scheduled rehabilitation period. The negative results of Flintoff's consultation with a specialist were made public 24 hours before England were due to announce their squad for the second Test. The match starts on Thursday at Old Trafford, Flintoff's home ground. The ankle problems had already forced Flintoff to sit out a five-match one-day series against Sri Lanka, which England lost 5-0, and the first Test against Pakistan, which ended in a draw. But he had appeared on track for a comeback at Old Trafford after playing without pain for the first three days of his county Lancashire's match at Kent. On Friday however he began to feel discomfort in the ankle after bowling just two overs, prompting the ECB to send him back to the specialist. The injury first became apparent when Flintoff was bowling during the final Test against Sri Lanka at Trent Bridge nearly two months ago. A scan revealed floating bone fragments, left over from an operation on the same ankle at the beginning of last year. Flintoff was badly missed during the embarrassing one-day whitewash by Sri Lanka and his absence meant they had just four frontline bowlers on show at Lord's, where they lacked the firepower to bowl Pakistan out twice on a good pitch. The absence of Flintoff makes it likely Warwickshire batsman Ian Bell, who was likely to be axed despite scoring an unbeaten hundred at Lord's, will retain his place in the second Test line-up and Andrew Strauss will continue as captain. 
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
| © 2007 Cable News Network LP, LLLP. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Read our privacy guidelines. Contact us. Site Map. |
|
External sites open in new window; not endorsed by CNN.com
Pay service with live and archived video. 
