Graveney defends Flintoff's treatment

David Graveney, the England chairman of selectors, has insisted that the treatment of Andrew Flintoff's ankle injury has been unjustifiably criticised. It was confirmed yesterday that Flintoff will require further surgery on his ankle and will miss the entire summer. The news also put a cloud over his participation in the Ashes series later this year, the first Test of which gets underway at Brisbane on November 23.

"He was seen by two consultants who are the best in the field and they went down the route of [initially] deciding against an operation," Graveney told BBC Radio Five Live. "Virtually every hurdle had been crossed and it was only when he played at Kent he began to feel the symptoms."

Assuming Flintoff's operation and subsequent rehabilitation goes to plan, he should be able to resume training in early October. However, he has already been ruled out of participating in the Champions Trophy and, consequently, faces the possibility of flying to Australia as England captain having not played any serious cricket for the best part of eight or nine months.

Graveney refused to be downbeat, however. "As far as the time line is concerned, we still believe Freddie will be on that plane with the rest of the team," he said. "Once he has the operation we can make our plan from there. If the symptoms they think are causing the problem are correct the 12-week span is probably accurate."