Within minutes of losing the Headingley Test, England announced that Andrew Flintoff would miss the series decider at The Oval to undergo the surgery on his hernia which he has been putting off for most of the summer. He will see a specialist in either today or tomorrow and probably be operated on before the week is out. The selection of Flintoff at Leeds was a well-publicised gamble, and one which didn't pay off. He took just one wicket, dropped a catch and made a pair. His performance capped a miserable summer. In five Tests Flintoff has scored 141 runs at an average of 18.63 and taken 11 wickets at 60.82.

Although Flintoff is considered a key member of the side, his meagre return in the series against Sri Lanka and India reflects, even allowing for injury, that his reputation is greater than the reality. Perhaps too much is expected from man who was until last winter considered to have major fitness problems.

Nasser Hussain admitted that Flintoff needed time to sort out his injury and recharge his batteries. "The fact that he is not 100 per cent fit might have affected him mentally," Hussain said. "He had a poor game, but he's been great for England in the last year or two, and he needs to get himself right for the Ashes and beyond.

"Now we have a problem with finding someone to take Flintoff's place in a very crucial Test match. We'll look for one but there's a long injury list in the all-rounder department." Of the three most likely candidates, two, Ronnie Irani and Paul Collingwood are out of the running, while the other, Craig White, is struggling to recover from the muscle strain which kept him out of the Headingley reckoning.

If White is ruled out it leaves Dominic Cork the favourite for another recall, although that would mean him batting at No. 7 - at least one place too high for him – and England would go into the match with a dangerously long tail. The alternative would be to play an extra batsman – possibly Mark Ramprakash on his home ground – and look to him and Michael Vaughan to support a four-strong seam attack.

Whatever England do, the momentum of the series has swung India's way. If England are to check that then they will, as Hussain admitted, have to bat, bowl and field considerably better than they did at Headingley.

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