May 28, 2008	Wednesday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 22, 1429

LONDON, May 27: All-rounder Andrew Flintoff is set to miss England’s forthcoming one-day series against New Zealand as he continues his recovery from a side strain.

England will announce their squad for the series on Friday, ahead of one-off Twenty20 International and five One-day Internationals starting at Old Trafford on June 13.

They were hoping to include the 30-year-old in their plans after he was ruled out of the Test series against New Zealand with the side strain.

But Flintoff admitted he is only halfway through a six-week recovery programme which would effectively rule him out for the whole of the one-day series.

“I don’t know the exact dates of the one-day series but I’ve still got a few weeks before I’m fit so I’m not sure what the chances are of me being fit for that. I saw Geoff Miller and Peter Moores last week and they’re not going to rush me back,” Flintoff said.

“I’ve not got a fixed date yet on when I can play and I think I’ll know more once I start doing more running and then get back into the cricket again.

“These things have a history of taking six weeks and it will be three weeks on Thursday since I did it.”

Flintoff could still be fit for the opening Test against South Africa at Lord’s starting on July 11, which could be his first Test appearance for 18 months.

“I’d love to be involved against South Africa, but I think I learned my lesson from last time, building up and trying to play against New Zealand and it didn’t happen,” he said.

“I’m going to see how it goes. I’d love to play against South Africa obviously, but I’m not going to build it up too much because I don’t want to get disappointed again.”—AFP