Giles: England right to rest KP

England selector Ashley Giles acknowledges there are concerns over injuries to key duo Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen ahead of a crucial summer of cricket.

In addition to the one-day series against West Indies, England host the second World Twenty20 and then move on to an Ashes summer.

"Obviously there are concerns over these two key players going into a massive summer," he told Radio Five Live. "But it's good to see proactive measures being taken with KP particularly, by giving him a rest now. It's not worth risking."

To start that run without pivotal all-rounder Flintoff, who suffered a knee complaint on Indian Premier League duty, and star batsman Pietersen, who has been ruled out of the Windies series with Achilles trouble, is a major blow.

But while Warwickshire director of coaching Giles, himself an Ashes winner in 2005, accepts there are worries, he believes it is an unavoidable part of the modern game.

"If you play with an injury they get worse and worse, so it's good to see Kev having a bit of time off so he's fit for the Ashes coming up," he added.

"Of course, in an ideal world you want your best players to be playing every day but with the amount of cricket around these days that's probably not possible.

"There are lots of knocks flying around but we have some young exciting players in our squad."