Andrew Flintoff Touch and Go for World Twenty20

Andrew Flintoff's participation in the World Twenty20 is in doubt, as he makes steady recovery from surgery. Despite having only recently undergone microsurgery on his right knee, the all-rounder had been included in the England squad for the competition, although on a speculative basis.

However, with the tournament due to begin on 5 June, Flintoff has said that he is still 10 days or so from running, and a it would be while until he would be able to risk bowling flat out. He is, though, still on schedule to be fit in time for the Ashes series which starts in Cardiff on 8 July although he will have a deal of work to do in the interim.

The problem with Flintoff's knee flared up during his time in South Africa with the Chennai Super Kings franchise of the Indian Premier League and he was flown home immediately for investigation. Surgery repaired a small cartilage tear. "The knee problem had been festering for a while," he said, "and I had the operation two weeks ago. But I'm already off my crutches and would love to play in the Twenty20 World Cup. I'm in the squad but that might be too tight. I've been making progress and I've been on the exercise bike for 45 minutes.

"I'm still a while away from running, I think, a week and a half or so. One of the things I've got to be careful about is the swelling, which is why we are constantly icing it and monitoring it after training. I saw the specialist on Tuesday and he was pretty cautious about it."

The Ashes, Flintoff added optimistically, are still ages away. However, there is a limit to the amount of cricket available to him as suitable preparation for the rigours of a high-profile five-match series. Lancashire have just three championship matches next month, starting on 6, 11 and 17 June and he must expect to play in perhaps the last two.

Beyond that is just the domestic Twenty20 competition, until an England XI play Warwickshire in a three-day game at Edgbaston on 1 July as a prelude to the series, starting on the same day as the England Lions' four-day match against the Australians at Worcester. It is a lot tighter than he might admit. As a matter of urgency, the England management should leave him out of the World Twenty20 forthwith, so he can play championship cricket.

The Twenty20 captain, Paul Collingwood, said England could only wait in hope. "I think we're still waiting on how his fitness will be over the next couple of weeks," said Collingwood. "It would obviously be a big blow if he's not in it, but we'll have to overcome it."

He admitted Flintoff's absence would leave a big hole to fill. "He's very much two players in one, as I've always said, but I think we've got quite a versatile squad with the players we've got in there. It would be a huge blow if he wasn't going to be fit, but we certainly have the players in the squad to overcome that in many ways.

"Without 'Fred', it makes it very difficult to get the right balance between batters and bowlers in the final 11," added Collingwood, who did not discount the suggestion that Flintoff could return to the squad mid-tournament if necessary. "It's something we're going to have to gauge," he reported. "We're going to know a lot more in the next couple of weeks and we'll cross that hurdle when it comes around."