Jones has not played for his county Worcestershire this year

Former England paceman Simon Jones has been ruled out of the remainder of the cricket season, his club Worcestershire have confirmed.

The 30-year-old underwent an operation to have fluid drained from his injured knee last week but will not now be fit to play again in 2009.

Jones has been sidelined with injury since having knee surgery in April.

The club have not yet decided whether he will be offered a new contract when his deal runs out this season.

A statement from Worcestershire outlined how although the operation to regenerate cartilage in Jones's left knee had been a success, it was the underlying bone that would require more time to heal.

Director of cricket Steve Rhodes said: "This is very disappointing news for both Simon and the club.

"He has gone through so much work over the last year that we were all really hoping he would come through this.

"There will inevitably be speculation about Simon's future at the club but I must stress that no decision has been made at this stage."

Rhodes told to BBC Hereford and Worcester that it had been a gamble to take on Jones but said he had no regrets about signing him.

"If you had asked me that when he took his 42 wickets at 18 apiece and even his first five-wicket haul in a one-day match down at Hampshire, I would have said the gamble was working," he said.

606: DEBATE It's game over for Simon Jones. Big shame though, he could have been one of the best Surrey_Fan

"He was clocking over 90 miles per hour so there have been a lot of highs.

"Now it will be a season off, which is disappointing for Simon and us, so you could easily point the finger and say the gamble hasn't worked.

"But that is the thing about gambles, they can work one way or the other and there is nothing concrete in them."

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