(SYDNEY) Adam Hollioake has been given the chance to claim a place in England's World Cup squad after being named as the replacement for Andrew Flintoff for the one-day triangular tournament in Australia

The Surrey captain played the last of his 35 one-day internationals three years ago against India at Edgbaston, scoring six as England slumped to a 63-run defeat and out of the 1999 World Cup at the first stage.

He has been overlooked ever since despite his impressive record at domestic level, but his spell as an outcast was ended when he was brought in to replace Flintoff, who is returning home in an attempt to cure the problem which has prevented him regaining full fitness since undergoing a double hernia operation in August.

Hollioake produced some impressive performances for Surrey last summer after his return to cricket, having taken several months off following the tragic death of younger brother Ben in a car accident last March.

He will make the trip from Perth, where he has been staying with his family this winter, and is expected to join up with the rest of the squad in Melbourne this weekend ahead of Sunday's 2nd one-day international against Australia at the MCG - and becomes the 31st player to become involved in England's tour this winter.

Flintoff is the fifth player to return home since the tour began on October 18 - following Simon Jones, Darren Gough, Chris Silverwood and Ashley Giles – and now faces a battle to prove his fitness before England have to reveal their final 15-man squad for the World Cup to the International Cricket Council on December 31.

''Andrew's making no progress at the moment,'' confirmed coach Duncan Fletcher. ''He's been checked over in Australia and everyone over here can't really find a problem, but at this stage he's not fit to play in one-day internationals or Test matches and we want him to go and get fit.

''It's been a distraction to us. We've got other important decisions to make and half the time we're trying to find out where we stand with Andrew, which is why it's important he goes back and sorts the problem out.''

12 Dec, 2002