The ICC has confirmed the event technical committee of the ICC Champions Trophy 2009 has approved Graham Onions as a replacement player for Andrew Flintoff in England's squad for the tournament, which runs from 22 September to 5 October.

The confirmation was conveyed to the England and Wales Cricket Board on behalf of the event technical committee today (Monday).

Onions, a 26-year-old fast bowler, has yet to play an ODI but made his mark this summer by taking 5-38 and 2-64 on Test debut against the West Indies at Lord's and then helped England to regain the Ashes. In the four Ashes Tests, the Durham seamer took 10 wickets and finished as the fourth most successful England bowler behind Stuart Broad (18), Graeme Swann (14) and James Anderson (12).

Onions has been nominated for the ICC Cricketer of the Year and Emerging Player of the Year categories at the LG ICC Awards to be staged in Johannesburg on 1 October.

The event technical committee of the ICC Champions Trophy consists of David Richardson (ICC, chairman), Don McIntosh (tournament director), Campbell Jamieson (representative of IDI, the ICC's commercial arm which runs major ICC events), Mike Gajjar (CSA representative), Sanjay Manjrekar (independent nomination) and Nick Knight (independent nomination).

England plays its first game of the tournament proper on Saturday 26 September against the West Indies at The Wanderers.