Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Injured Flintoff out of Twenty20

Andrew Flintoff in action for Chennai
Flintoff sustained his injury playing for Chennai Super Kings

Andrew Flintoff will not be fit for England's World Twenty20 campaign.

He is on the mend after a knee injury but England want him to continue rehab to make sure he is fit for the Ashes.

Flintoff, 31, missed the recent series against the West Indies after hurting his knee in the Indian Premier League and is replaced by Adil Rashid.

England selector Geoff Miller said they had hoped Flintoff would be fit but now accepted "in reality the timescale was always optimistic".

Miller added: "There is a lot of cricket still to play this year and it is important Andrew is fully fit for it."

Flintoff underwent surgery in April after being forced out of the Indian Premier League with a meniscus tear in his right knee.

606: DEBATE
aatakila

"There is no swelling or pain now in the knee," said England and Wales Cricket Board chief medical officer Nick Pierce.

"He has been putting in some extremely hard training with Lancashire and should start running and practicing this week.

"After discussions with his surgeon we have decided that he should continue the remainder of his rehabilitation with (Lancashire physio) Dave Roberts, who has overseen his previous rehabilitations."

Flintoff has played 75 Tests and 141 one-day internationals since making his England debut in 1998, but it would have been many more had he not suffered a string of injuries.

He flew home from the tour of the West Indies earlier this year for treatment on a hip injury, which meant he missed the fourth and fifth Tests of a series England ultimately lost 1-0.

He returned in time for the end of the one-day series and took a hat-trick in the fifth and deciding match in St Lucia to help England to victory.

Flintoff then headed for South Africa to play in the IPL, where he was the most expensive player in the player auction, but he failed to impress with bat or ball before his injury curse struck again.

No comments: