Warwickshire spinner Ashley Giles will miss the start of the domestic season after suffering a recurrence of his long-standing hip problem.
The 34-year-old missed most of 2006 with hip and groin injuries and this further setback will damage his bid to force his way back into the England set-up with the first Test against the West Indies just a month away.
Giles struggled in the opening two Tests of last winter’s Ashes series in Australia before he returned home to be with his sick wife. He was then overlooked for the World Cup in the West Indies in favour of Monty Panesar.
Giles vowed to fight his way back into the England set-up but any hopes of making a return in the near future appear to have been scotched. He said: "I’m heading to Colorado on Tuesday morning to see my specialist again for further consultation.
"I’ve obviously had some pain in the hip and, as he was the guy who operated on me last time, I’ve got lots of faith in him and hopefully he can shed some light on what is going on."
Giles admits he is disappointed to miss the start of the campaign especially with the opening Test against the visiting West Indies at Lord’s just weeks away.
He said: "Of course. I was really enjoying my time with the Bears, pre-season went really well with the youngsters here keeping me fresh.
"Unfortunately, now I’ve gone back a couple of steps but fingers crossed it’s nothing too serious and we can sort it out and get me back on the pitch really quickly."
