THE ODDS on Andrew Flintoff ever being a force again at Test level have lengthened with the news that he has undergone further surgery on his left foot. He has in effect been ruled out of England’s Test series in Sri Lanka before Christmas and the tour of New Zealand in the new year. If that proves to be the case, he will have missed five Test series out of six.

This was the 29-year-old allrounder’s fourth operation in less than three years. What is particularly worrying about this latest development is that it occurred so soon after an operation to clean out an area on the left side of his foot in June.

Since then he has bowled only 82.2 overs in competitive cricket. On previous occasions, surgery on his landing foot followed heavy periods of bowling.

What is also a concern is that the keyhole surgery in Holland on Friday, conducted by Dr Niek van Dijk, a leading specialist, found further fragments of bones at the base of the ankle.

Flintoff’s first operation, in 2005, was to remove a bone spur; his second operation last year also detected bony particles.

This suggests that there may be a chronic deterioration in this area of the foot that no surgery can arrest.

Even before this latest operation, Kirk Russell, the England physiotherapist, conceded that Flintoff’s ankle would never be the same as it was. And by extension, he will never be the bowler he once was.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) issued a statement yesterday saying that Flintoff would resume full training in the new year with a view to regaining complete fitness ahead of the 2008 domestic season. England’s first match of the summer is a Test at Lord’s against New Zealand starting on May 15.

“The operation involved the removal of extra bone, including fragments, from the front and back of the ankle which were causing bony impingement and compression of a tendon in the back of the ankle,” the ECB statement read.

“The nature of these bone changes was such that there were additional difficulties in the normal functioning and stability of the ankle . . .

“The surgery was performed successfully and, at this stage, the surgeon is optimistic that he has addressed the underlying root of the problem. The decision to carry out further surgery was taken following extensive consultation with leading specialists including those from the UK, Australia and the United States.”

Flintoff’s absence has caused England to revise their plans for the Sri Lanka Test series. They will now take 16 players rather than 15, made up of seven batsmen, five fast bowlers, two spinners and two wicketkeepers – an admission that Flintoff cannot be replaced by one player.

The main attention will be on whether Andrew Strauss and Steve Harmison, both of whom were awarded new England contracts last month, can secure places and whether Mark Ramprakash can sneak an international recall at the age of 38 after two Bradmanesque seasons in county cricket.

There are good reasons for leaving out Strauss for the first time since he broke into the Test side in 2004. His record against Muttiah Muralitharan is sketchy. His form overseas has been poor for two years, since his domestic situation changed with the birth of his first child. And Strauss’s absence would allow Michael Vaughan to resume his best position as an opener and make room for Owais Shah, an excellent player of spin.

Perhaps significantly, Hugh Morris, the new managing director of the England team, said recently that he was willing to see leading players left out of occasional tours. But even if Strauss doesn’t go, the best Ramprakash can hope for is to be placed on standby.

Harmison will need to convince the selectors that he has fully recovered from his hernia operation and torn muscles in his lower back, which have kept him off the field for much of the past four months.

His rehabilitation has been heavily monitored by the ECB and he may look to prove his fitness by playing provincial cricket in South Africa before leaving for Colombo in mid-November.

The identity of the two wicketkeepers will also be hotly discussed. The uncapped Tim Ambrose is favourite to act as understudy to Matt Prior, another who knows he needs to raise his game.