Injury rules Flintoff out of World T20

England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff was ruled out of next months World Twenty20 tournament because he has not fully recovered from knee surgery.

England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff was ruled out of next months World Twenty20 tournament on Wednesday because he has not fully recovered from knee surgery.

The England and Wales Cricket Board had expected Flintoff to get over last months operation on a meniscus tear to his right knee but has now called up Adil Rashid to replace him.

The 31-year-old Flintoff had the surgery after he pulled out of the Indian Premier League,where he had tied with England team mate Kevin Pietersen as the most costly players in the pre-tournament auction.

The injury already ruled him out of Englands recent Test and one-day series wins over West Indies. The ECB must now decide whether to gamble on his form and fitness for the Ashes series against Australia,which starts in July. Flintoff will only have games for county side Lancashire in which to earn a place.

We had to name Andrew in the ICC World Twenty20 15 because we hoped he would be fit, national selector Geoff Miller said,but in reality the timescale was always optimistic.

We have now obtained permission from ICC to name Yorkshires Adil Rashid as a replacement. There is a lot of cricket still to play this year and it is important Andrew is fully fit for it.

The bowling of James Anderson and Stuart Broad in the ODIs against West Indies suggests Flintoff may not be missed at the Twenty20,which is being held in England.

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Andrew is making excellent progress and there is no swelling or pain now in the knee, ECB chief medical officer Nick Peirce said. After discussions with his surgeon we decided that he should continue the remainder of his rehab with physio Dave Roberts,who has overseen his previous rehab.