Giles out for season

Profiles / Editor / 27 April 2007 / Leave a Comment

England spinner Ashley Giles' injury woes continue as he looks set to miss his second straight season of cricket through injury.

The 34-year-old had to sit out the entire 2006 season in England due to a serious hip injury that required surgery, but he returned to the international fold for the disastrous Ashes tour last winter.

The Warwickshire man was a surprise selection ahead of Monty Paneser for the first two Tests Down Under but, after being left out of the third Test in favour of the Northants' star, his tour was cut short when he had to return home to look after his wife, who had been diagnosed with a brain tumour.

Panesar was then selected ahead of the 54-Test veteran for the World Cup, but Giles was still keen to be part of the England squad under new coach Peter Moores and was selected in the 25-man squad for the summer's encounters with the West Indies and India.

However, the hip injury flared up again and the Chertsey-born slow left-armer flew to Colorado to undergo another operation to try and cure the problem once and for all.

It is unclear exactly how long Giles' rehabilitation will take this time around but the player himself is not confident of getting back on the field this season.

"At this stage I can't say how long I will be out of action, but it could be for most of the summer," he told the Daily Telegraph.

"The operation was more straightforward than the one I had last summer but I will be on crutches for longer."

With the emergence of Panesar as England's number one spinner, Warwickshire were looking forward to having their England star for the majority of the domestic season, but it seems unlikely that he will feature much at Edgbaston this term.

The Bears have made a solid start to their County Championship Division One campaign and sit second in the table after two matches and they are on offer at 7.2 to win the title this year.

Shane-Warne led Hampshire remain favourites at 3 with early pace-setters Yorkshire on offer at 4.1 and Lancashire trading at 4.2.

Defending champions Sussex can be backed at 4.6 after suffering an innings defeat to Warwickshire in their second match of the season.