Giles faces further surgery on hip injury

England's chances of retaining the Ashes in Australia this winter received another major blow yesterday when it emerged that the spinner Ashley Giles is in need of further surgery on his troublesome right hip.

Giles is the third member of England's Ashes winning side to face the prospect of a second operation to correct an injury sustained during the winter and, like Michael Vaughan and Simon Jones, he now appears to have little chance of travelling to Australia in November as a player.

Jones had a second operation on his left knee earlier this month after seeing Richard Steadman, the world's leading knee specialist, in the United States. He was instructed not to play cricket for five months, which rules him out of the Ashes.

Vaughan will have a crisis meeting with the medical staff of England and Yorkshire today in an attempt to work out the best approach to healing his knee injury. A visit to Steadman and surgery cannot be ruled out. It would be a surprise to see the England captain play Test cricket this summer and he must be a serious doubt for the winter too.

Before undergoing surgery Giles will visit the United States for a second opinion, and should the specialist agree with the diagnosis in England, he will be operated on immediately.

Giles has had hip problems for some time and the complaint forced him to return home early from England's pre-Christmas tour of Pakistan.

On arriving in England the left-arm spinner was operated on, with the hope that he would be fit enough to tour India in February. These plans were quickly scuppered because of Giles's slow rehabilitation and he was forced to withdraw from the tour.

Giles's problems were compounded in May when he had an operation to correct an abdominal tear, an injury caused by his hip condition. Vaughan and Jones have made brief appearances in county cricket this summer but Giles now appears set to go through the entire season without bowling a ball in competitive cricket.

The emergence of Monty Panesar as a Test-quality spinner will make it easier for England to accommodate the loss of Giles than to cover for Vaughan and Jones, but he will still be missed. Liam Plunkett has plenty of potential, but England are yet to find another bowler - other than Andrew Flintoff - who is truly capable of batting at No 8.

Missing the opportunity to defend the Ashes would be a huge blow to Giles, Vaughan and Jones but, after eight or nine months of trouble, each would be happy just to play for England again at any time in the future.

England hold the Ashes but even with a full-strength side the challenge of winning in Australia this winter was going to be a tough one. Taking on Ricky Ponting's side with so many influential players missing could turn the series into a rather one-sided affair.

The form of the two teams has been starkly different since that unforgettable day at The Oval in September and the open-top bus trip through central London. England have won two and lost four of the nine Tests they have played and the Australians have won 11 of 12.