Bad News Gets Worse for Flintoff and Jones

As if defeat to Sri Lanka in the third Test in Nottingham were not bad enough, England are now facing a captaincy crisis after Andrew Flintoff revealed that fragments of bone have been found around the left ankle joint which required an operation to remove a spur early last year.

The England captain, who did not bowl at all yesterday, underwent a scan on Sunday evening and must wait for the results before deciding whether he will be fit to lead the side in the five-match one-day series starting in 11 days' time or whether another operation is necessary. With Michael Vaughan still recovering from knee trouble, England have spent most of the past few days pondering injury.

It also emerged last night that the fast bowler Simon Jones is likely to require keyhole surgery on his troublesome left knee after a scan on Wednesday. Jones, who has not played for England since August, has flown to the United States for a second opinion and will know more later this week, but it is Flintoff's ankle which represents the cruellest blow. "They've found three fragments in the same area as my old injury," he said. "Whether they've been there for a long time I'm not sure. I got a pain in my ankle towards the end of the Pakistan tour and it's something I've got to deal with. It's getting to the point now where we're getting it investigated."

If England's worst fears are confirmed, Andrew Strauss will almost certainly be handed the captaincy for the start of the NatWest Series on June 17. England will not even want to begin to think about a longer lay-off for Flintoff than that.

Flintoff cast a glum figure last night and said that defeat to Sri Lanka, who were inspired to a series-levelling 134-run win by an eight-wicket burst from Muttiah Muralitharan, was more painful than his ankle complications. "It was a series we expected to win," he said, "but also one of missed opportunities. At Lord's the dropped catches cost us. In this game, if we had got 300 or 350 in the first innings it might have been a different match."

Set 325 for an unlikely victory, England collapsed from 84 without loss to 190 all out as Muralitharan produced an astonishing spell of eight for 26 in 105 balls, including Flintoff fourth ball for a duck.