Reeve resigned to an operation

Dermot Reeve, the Warwickshire captain, reacted positively to the news that he will miss the rest of the season because of an arthritic hip which requires an operation.

"Though it's not good news when you have an arthritic hip," he said, "I understand a number of sprinters have had the same operation, and Angus Fraser had his hip joint scraped and has been able to bowl again.

"It's very frustrating because I had made probably my best start to a season with a century against Sussex and five wickets against Northants - but the hip has just got worse."

The influential all-rounder admitted: "We had hoped that an injection might work and that I might be able to put the operation off until the end of the season.

"But I had a run round and it was no better, so I've got to have the joint scraped and that means two to three months out."