Knee surgery for Flintoff - Sport in brief - Evening Standard
       

Knee surgery for Flintoff

Andrew Flintoff has been ruled out of the forthcoming Test series against West Indies after contracting a knee injury playing in the Indian Premier League.

The influential England all-rounder will fly home from South Africa, where the IPL is being played, and undergo an operation on his right knee next week which their medical team believe will sideline him for the next three to five weeks.

That will sideline 31-year-old Flintoff for both Tests and the three-match one-day series against West Indies, but he should recover in time for the ICC World Twenty20 tournament starting on June 5.

Flintoff complained of a soreness in his right knee playing for Chennai Super Kings, who made contact with England immediately after he underwent scans at a Durban hospital.

They confirmed Flintoff had suffered a slight torn meniscus in his right knee and after they were inspected by Dr Nick Peirce, the England and Wales Cricket Board's chief medical officer, he was booked in for an operation early next week.

"Clearly this is a huge disappointment for both the player and the IPL team," admitted Peirce. "This sort of degenerative injury though is one that could have happened at anytime, anywhere.

"The procedures we put in place meant that the ECB medical staff were alerted about the problem immediately and we thank Chennai for their co operation."

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