Flintoff: Pietersen a big loss

Andrew Flintoff admits premier batsman Kevin Pietersen's presence in the England Test side will be hard to replace

Kevin Pietersen will be “greatly missed” in England's summer contest with Australia for the Ashes, according to Lord’s hero Andrew Flintoff.

It was revealed today that Pietersen will miss the remainder of the Ashes summer after the decision was made to undergo surgery on his troublesome Achilles.

The injury has troubled the powerful batsman for some time and, after detailed discussions and analysis with England’s medical team and a leading specialist, it was decided that he could play no further part against Australian and will now be ruled out of all cricket for up to six weeks after going under the knife.

The news has come as a blow to the home camp, which includes Flintoff - who himself is battling to be fit for the third npower Test which starts on Thursday July 30 at Edgbaston.

“He’s a massive influence on our team so it’s going to make it tougher for us - but he’s been in pain,” Flintoff said.

“He will be greatly missed and we wish him well - he’ll be gutted.

“He’s performed well in the past and we expected him to in the next three matches but he’ll come back, he’s young and I’m sure he’s got a few more Ashes series in him yet.

“If (Australia captain) Ricky Ponting was injured you are quite happy not bowling at him - and I think Australia will be thinking the same about Kevin.”

Flintoff added: “It means a lot playing in the Ashes and I fully expect he’ll be coming along to watch a few of the games once he’s back on his feet.”

England’s Twenty20 opener Luke Wright echoed Flintoff`s sentiments.

“I feel so sorry for him (Pietersen) because I was with him on a daily basis in the World Twenty20 and every morning before the game he was working so hard on his rehab, making sure he did everything to be as strong and fit as possible.

“He was doing so much fitness work to get out there on the field and perform for England.

“You could see at Lord’s, he was clearly struggling but desperately wanted to get through.

“He is a big-match player, and world-class batsman, and will take some replacing but it will be up to whoever comes in to do exactly that.”