England captain Andrew Strauss refused to blame the Andrew Flintoff's stint in the Indian Premier League for the injury which required an operation at the start of an Ashes summer.

The 31-year-old underwent what the England and Wales Cricket Board described as "routine and successful" keyhole surgery to repair torn meniscus in his right knee, a knock he sustained while in South Africa with the Chennai Super Kings.

The all-rounder is expected to recover in time for June's World Twenty20 tournament as well as the subsequent Tests and one-day internationals against Australia.

The decision to allow key players to participate in the IPL was always a contentious one, particularly given Flintoff's injury history.

But Strauss said: "I don't think he had a niggle when he went to be fair, it developed while he was over there.

"It's a tricky situation, but you can get injured anywhere, whether he was playing in the IPL or for Lancashire, you can't control that particularly.

"It was a decision for the players themselves as to whether they wanted to go over and play in it and you can understand their decisions as there were big benefits in terms of experiencing Twenty20 cricket."

Strauss added: "It's not something you'd hold against a player. It's a tough decision to turn down that sort of money.

"Let's hope his recovery is as swift as possible and that he comes back feeling very comfortable with his body."

The injury will rule Flintoff out of the first leg of England's summer, the return visit of West Indies.

On the recent tour of the Caribbean, he missed two Tests, two one-day internationals and a Twenty20 international after sustaining a hip injury, only to finish on a high with a hat-trick in the final one-day international at St Lucia.

Since undergoing the second of four operations on his left ankle in the summer of 2006, Flintoff has played only 13 of England's last 36 Tests.

Strauss said: "I really felt for Freddie when I heard about this (knee injury) because he had two injuries in the West Indies, he just looked like he was getting back and then he gets injured again. It's very hard for him to get any real momentum and form.

"It's been a very frustrating few months for Freddie to be fair.

"I suppose every time you get a new injury so your confidence takes a bit of a battering.

"We really hope that he swiftly recovers from this and by the time the Ashes start he is feeling as fit and healthy as possible.

"He's still a big player for us and we need him firing on all cylinders."

Hugh Morris, managing director of England Cricket, earlier confirmed Flintoff's surgery had gone well.

"The surgeon has informed the England and Wales Cricket Board's chief medical officer Nick Peirce that the operation went extremely smoothly," he said.

"I am grateful to the ECB medical team, the surgeon and radiologists as well as the Chennai Super Kings for keeping the England team management and me informed about Andrew's injury and the subsequent operation."

England's selectors met today to pick their squad to take on West Indies in next week's first Test.

Strauss, who scored 150 for Middlesex today against Leicestershire in the LV County Championship, said: "The reality is we're not necessarily going to have our first-choice bowling attack there, but it gives other people an opportunity to press their claims.

"I think I will arrive at the ground with a spring in my step now, I feel comfortable with my game.

"Maybe in previous years our players haven't come back into county cricket and performed as well as they might have done, so it's good to see the likes of Jimmy Anderson taking a bagful of wickets for Lancashire.

"Hopefully he'll continue to that for England."

Anderson will sit out the championship contest against Nottinghamshire which begins at Old Trafford tomorrow.

Fast bowler Anderson, 26, claimed 11 Sussex wickets in his opening first-class outing of the season at Hove last week and the England management have deemed that sufficient preparation for the Lord's Test.

Anderson has established himself as England's first-choice new-ball bowler over recent months and was recently named as one of Wisden's five cricketers of the year.