LONDON (England) - Jacques Kallis' stomach muscle injury is so serious that he is unlikely to return to England shortly and play the remainder of the season for Glamorgan.

The county had planned to sign the South African all rounder but the injury Kallis sustained in the Super Six series World Cup match against New Zealand at Edgbaston in Birmingham and which he further aggravated in the semi-final at the same venue a week later.

He is now back in Cape Town where he visiting a specialist who will decide for how long he needs to rest. According to team sources the muscle beneath the appendix scar was badly torn and may take some time to heal.

At this stage he has about 14 weeks before serious training starts for next season and the looming Test and limited-overs series against England followed by a tour of India.

Glamorgan officials are waiting to see what the United Cricket Board plan to do. They have admitted the news is not as good as they would have liked to hear at this stage in their campaign, but Kallis is under contract to the UCB and will have to abide by any decision they make after advice from the specialist.

Duncan Fletcher, the Glamorgan and former Western Province coach, who has done much to bring Kallis through as a player, has admitted he is not at all confident Kallis will turn up at Sophia Gardens within the next 10 days. The Western Province all-rounder, included in all 'best' World Cup XIs finished the semi-final in agony and there would have been some doubt whether he would have been able to play in the final had South Africa got through.

At this stage rumours are that Lance Klusener is to fill in for Kallis but Fletcher has no knowledge of such a plan. It appears, however, that the popular World Cup player of the series may be signed by Nottinghamshire who have been chasing his signature since long before the tournament started. Clive Rice, now the Nottinghamshire director of coaching, is known to have talked to Klusener recently but there has been no further comment from the county and Klusener has not been available for comment. He did not attend the after final media conference at Lord's on Sunday.

Fletcher is having problems on another front. He is said to be having second thoughts about the offer made by England for him to coach their side. This would include taking over the job offered to Bob Woolmer and coach the side in the series against South Africa later in the year.

He has already been told his input is needed to select a new England captain, expected to be named for the series against New Zealand and to lead the team to South Africa, by Thursday.

Fletcher is said to have told the England and Wales Cricket Board he needs more time to think over the offer.