ENGLAND will be without Andrew Flintoff for next week's final Test against India and the forthcoming Champions Trophy after the all-rounder finally succumbed to his long-standing groin injury.

Flintoff, who bagged his second pair in two Tests at Headingley as England were thrashed by an innings and 46 runs yesterday, will be out for up to six weeks as he battles to be ready for the winter's Ashes series.

The Lancashire man was patently short of fitness in Leeds, facing just three balls in scoring two ducks after returning figures of one for 68 in 27 overs.

The loss of Flintoff for the deciding Test at the Oval, which begins a week on Thursday, will cause a major reshuffle in the England line-up.

His absence could open the way for Durham's Steve Harmison, harshly dropped for the Headingley Test after impressing on his debut at Trent Bridge, to return to the England team.

But with Craig White also still injured, Flintoff's setback is a massive blow to Nasser Hussain's men, even though surgery has been inevitable for some time.

An England spokesman said: "Andrew will see a specialist on Wednesday with a view to having an operation on Friday. The rest period will be four to six weeks."

Hussain, whose 12th Test century yesterday was in vain as England lost their last six second innings wickets before lunch, added: "Andrew needs to get himself right for the Ashes and beyond.

"We don't like playing players when they're half-fit. It's now a case of deciding who takes his place in a very crucial Test match."

India will look to win their first Test series outside the Sub-continent since 1986 at the Oval after giving what Hussain described as a "near-perfect" performance in Leeds.

They were in command from the first afternoon onwards, with Rahul Dravid's 148 laying the foundation for their mammoth 628 for eight declared.

England's slim hopes of saving the Test evaporated after little more than half-an-hour's play yesterday when Hussain fell in Anil Kumble's first over of the morning.

Having raced from his overnight score of 90 to his ton in just 13 balls, Hussain was looking to be the bedrock of a valiant rearguard action.

But having progressed to 110, he gloved Kumble to Virender Sehwag at short leg, and the joyous Indian celebrations belied their view that the removal of Hussain had broken the back of the England innings.

Within ten minutes and ten balls, starting with Hussain's dismissal, England subsided from 265 for four to 267 for seven, and the game was as good as over.

Flintoff rounded off a miserable Test match by edging Zaheer Khan to the dependable Dravid at first slip.

Then, with no addition to the England total, Alec Stewart's vigil ended when he too fell to a catch by Dravid, this time off the bowling of Kumble.

Alex Tudor and Ashley Giles delayed the inevitable with a partnership of 32 that spanned 41 minutes, but the latter was run out by a combination of captain Saurav Ganguly and bowler Harbhajan Singh.

Tudor flicked a Harbhajan delivery into Sehwag's hands via his pad, and Ganguly completed the rout when he caught Andy Caddick off Kumble seven minutes before the scheduled lunch break.

Hussain admitted: "It hasn't been a good five days for us. We've been outplayed in all departments.

"It would be easy to say it was the bowlers' fault, but we didn't catch well and we didn't bat well, either.

"It was our intention to try to do something special this morning but we always knew losing one wicket would cause us a lot of problems."

Having lost the first Test at Lord's by a distance, India only just salvaged a draw at Trent Bridge to prevent them falling 2-0 behind.

But now they are dreaming of a remarkable series win, and Ganguly said: "The way we came back in this Test was very satisfying.

"Even though Nasser Hussain and Alec Stewart were going well together, we knew that if we picked up one wicket we'd have a great chance of picking up another couple quickly."