Jimmy Anderson ruled out of fourth Test and rest of Ashes series
England have suffered a major blow to their hopes of regaining the Ashes after Jimmy Anderson was ruled out of the final two Tests against Australia with the calf injury he sustained in the opening match of the series, reports The Guardian.
Anderson, his country’s all-time leading wicket-taker, was a notable absentee when England named their squad for next week’s fourth Ashes Test at his home ground of Old Trafford. Craig Overton was instead added to an otherwise unchanged 13-man party. It means both Jason Roy and Jos Buttler have retained their places despite underwhelming returns with the bat so far in the series.
It is understood England will move Roy down from opener to Joe Denly’s No 4 position, with the Kent batsman promoted to the top of the order.
These appear mere details, though, compared with the headline news that Anderson has now almost certainly played against Australia for the final time. The 37-year-old was expected to return for the fourth Test after he stepped up his recovery playing in a friendly for Lancashire’s second XI against Durham this week.
However, after bowling 20 overs at Chester on Tuesday, he pulled up on Thursday with further pain in his right calf and assessments by England’s medical team have ruled him out of the rest of the series.
Anderson, who originally picked up the problem playing for Lancashire in early July, broke down after four overs of the first Test at Edgbaston. Given he will be in his 40th year by the time the next series begins in November 2021, this must surely be the end of an Ashes career that has seen him play 32 Tests and take 104 wickets at 34.56 against Australia.
As far as replacements for Anderson go, Overton is not quite like-for-like. The 25-year-old Somerset seamer made his Test debut at Adelaide in the 2017-18 Ashes and last featured against New Zealand at Auckland in March of last year. England have lost all three Tests he has played.
Overton is unlikely to play at Old Trafford, with Sam Curran the favourite to come into the XI if England deem a change to their bowling attack is necessary. Chris Woakes, who would have made way if Anderson had been passed fit, is the most likely to be stood down.
But the unavailability of Anderson for the final two Tests of a series that is level at 1-1 is a setback for England after their miraculous one-wicketwin in Leeds.
An England statement said: “James Anderson has been ruled out for the rest of the Ashes series. Whilst bowling the ninth over on Thursday in Lancashire’s second XI four-day friendly against Durham Anderson became aware of right-calf pain following on from 20 overs he bowled on Tuesday. He immediately sought a medical assessment from Lancashire and was withdrawn from the remainder of game. Further review with the ECB medical team has confirmed he will be unavailable for the remaining two Ashes Tests.”
Aside from the absence of Anderson, the most striking thing about England’s squad for the fourth Test is the lack of changes in batting personnel. Those had seemed inevitable a week ago after Joe Root’s team were routed for 67 in their first innings at Headingley. Yet the remarkable unbeaten 135 from Ben Stokes that helped England secure an unlikely win has offered a stay of execution to those under pressure. Roy and Buttler will be the most relieved, the pair averaging 9.50 and 9.16 in this series respectively. Changes would have surely come had Australia managed to secure an unassailable 2-0 series lead.
Despite Ollie Pope, the 21-year-old Surrey batsman who was called up as concussion cover for Roy before the Headingley Test, coming into discussions for Old Trafford, the selectors ultimately decided to keep faith with the status quo.
One change, though, will come when Roy and Denly swap positions in the order for the fourth Test, which starts on Wednesday. Denly’s gritty half-century during England’s second innings at Headingley - plus his previous experience of opening during the tour of the Caribbean last winter - was enough to convince the selectors he could succeed at the top of the order in the remaining two Tests at least.
Roy has established himself as one of the world’s leading one-day openers but it was always felt he had a better chance of success in the middle order in Test cricket. Next week should go some way to showing whether that is the case.
England’s full squad for the fourth Test against Australia
Joe Root (capt, Yorkshire), Jofra Archer (Sussex), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Rory Burns (Surrey), Jos Buttler (Lancashire), Sam Curran (Surrey), Joe Denly (Kent), Jack Leach (Somerset), Craig Overton (Somerset), Jason Roy (Surrey), Ben Stokes (Durham), Chris Woakes (Warkwickshire)
