The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) today announced that the Warwickshire left-arm spinner Ashley Giles is to undergo an operation on Monday on his injured achilles tendon.

Giles, who underwent a six-week rehabilitation programme earlier this summer in an effort to cure the chronic injury, is expected to be out of cricket for between four to six months.

The injury did appear to be much better after he underwent an extensive programme of strengthening and rehabilitation work following his return from Sri Lanka.

Unfortunately, after he started playing cricket again, he was unable to continue with his rehabilitation work to the same degree and the injury deteriorated again.

As a consequence, the ECB medical team has reviewed Ashley's case and decided that surgery now represents the best way forward for him. The Board's medical team has discussed the situation with Warwickshire and they are fully supportive of this decision.

It is not easy at this stage to predict exactly how long Ashley will take to recover. While he will not be fit for the trip to Zimbabwe, the Board is hopeful that he will be in contention for a place on the winter tours of India and New Zealand.

© ECB