Ramprakash faces operation after injury blow

Surrey batsman Mark Ramprakash faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines and an operation after damaging ligaments in his left knee while playing football.

Ramprakash, 41, sustained the injury during a charity match and will now miss Surrey's pre-season schedule as well as the start of the 2011 county season. It's a major blow for Surrey who struggled last year, especially with the bat, and won just four matches in the Championship.

Despite this Ramprakash was the leading run-scorer in Division Two of the Championship making 1595 runs at 61.34 but now could be out of action until May.

"The injury is quite serious but I've been to see a specialist and it was pretty clear cut that I need an operation," Ramprakash told Surrey TV. "Hopefully that will go well and I'm going to be on crutches for around seven to ten days - after that it's following the long road to recovery.

"I was playing in a game of football on Saturday and quite early in the game I managed to get tangled up with another player. It was a bit freakish really - there was no malice involved - and I managed to twist my knee quite badly. There is a little bit of damage to the medial ligament, a very small tear in the cartilage and damage to the anterior cruciate ligament, which the one that is a bit of problem really.

"Hopefully there will be no complications", he added. "If there are none then it's possible that even around the ten day mark the physios will decide they can stick me on an exercise bike with no resistance and get the leg turning round. Of course, I expect there will be a lot of work in the swimming pool as well.

"After that it's just a case of seeing how it reacts and building those exercises up more and more. Right now, moving in a straight line is not a really problem so I'm hopeful that things will go smoothly.

"The specialist was saying that my knee is in excellent condition considering I'm a professional sportsman and have been for a long, long time, so hopefully that will all help.

"In terms of cricket - it's my left leg so when you're playing forward it's important that you've got flexibility in that knee; running between the wickets of course and running sideways in the field and being able to move to your left or your right at speed. Those of sorts things will be the ultimate goal but before that there will have to be a lot of work."