Flintoff consults specialist over ankle

Andrew Flintoff: a fresh doubt for England © Getty Images

Andrew Flintoff is set to pay a visit to the surgeon who performed the latest operation on his troublesome left ankle, amid fears that he could miss both the remainder of the NatWest Series against India, as well as next week's ICC World Twenty20 in South Africa.

Flintoff underwent his latest bout of ankle surgery in June, and missed all seven of England's Tests against West Indies and India. He returned successfully for the first half of the NatWest Series against India, touching 90mph with his bowling and taking a career-best 5 for 56 in the second match at Bristol, but further problems have since flared up. He missed England's matches at Edgbaston and Headingley, leading to speculation that his days as a force in international cricket could be over.

England, however, are clinging to the hope that a consultation with his specialist will reveal no further damage, and he has not yet been ruled out of Wednesday's sixth ODI at The Oval. "He is seeing the surgeon who performed his third ankle operation later on this afternoon - and we will go on from there," said David Graveney, England's chairman of selectors. "He's not ruled out of tomorrow, but at the same time, he is not definite to go to the Twenty20, because we have to wait for that medical opinion tomorrow.

"His mood is remarkably upbeat given the number of operations he's had," added Graveney, but privately England will be extremely pessimistic about the prospects for their talismanic allrounder. His injury has flared up a mere seven matches and 55.5 overs after his return to action for Lancashire, and this is the third time in three years that he has broken down shortly after a comeback from injury.

Flintoff's problems, coupled with the news that Ravi Bopara will miss the Twenty20s with a fractured thumb, means that England could depart for South Africa without either of the two allrounders on whom so many of their hopes were pinned. Sussex's Luke Wright has already been drafted in to the one-day squad as a replacement for Bopara, but seeing as he is already in the Twenty20 line-up, further reinforcements may have to come from further afield.

"It may not be like-to-like replacements but we need to know how many we're replacing," said Graveney. "It's a difficult logistical thing, and the decision may have to made in the weekend as the team leaves for South Africa on Sunday." Two allrounders who were named in the provisional 30-man squad are Lancashire's Glenn Chapple and Yorkshire's Tim Bresnan, although Marcus Trescothick's withdrawal from that number gives the selectors scope to look beyond that initial pool of players.