James Anderson has been ruled out of the second Ashes Test, with England uncertain when he would be fit to return after injuring his right calf.
England’s record wicket-taker broke down after just four overs in the series opener at Edgbaston and did not bowl again as Australia romped to a 251-run victory.
Scans have confirmed that he has no chance of taking part in next week’s game at Lord’s, the second of the five-match series, with assessment taking place “on an ongoing basis.”
Photo: AFP
Anderson’s absence is a huge blow for England, whose deflating defeat in Birmingham came just three weeks after they won the Cricket World Cup.
After pulling up injured on the first morning in Birmingham, Anderson, 37, was restricted to two batting cameos at number 11.
The veteran, who has taken 575 Test wickets, had not played competitive cricket for a month leading into the match after injuring the same calf playing for Lancashire.
“The MRI confirmed that Anderson has suffered a calf injury,” the England and Wales Cricket Board said in a statement yesterday.
“As a result of the injury, he will commence a rehabilitation program working with the England and Lancashire medical teams. Anderson will miss the second Test match, which starts at Lord’s on Wednesday, Aug. 14. He will be reassessed on an ongoing basis.”
Former England captain Michael Vaughan does not expect to see Anderson on duty again until the fourth Test at the earliest and warned that his absence could have a big impact in both dressing rooms.
“My concern is you don’t underestimate the psychological effect of Jimmy Anderson has on the England team, but also the positive effect it sends through the Australia team,” he said. “For them to arrive next week and the week after to know they won’t be facing Jimmy ... that is monstrous.”
A debut for paceman Jofra Archer, one of the stars of England’s World Cup campaign, could lessen the blow, but he must first prove his own fitness for the five-day game.
He was carrying a side strain throughout the tournament and has been sent to play for Sussex 2nd XI to get long spells with the red ball under his belt.
England captain Joe Root had no regrets about including Anderson for the Edgbaston game, saying that he had passed every medical test.
“It’s one of those freak scenarios where he pulled up — because it’s the same calf, we’re not sure whether it’s a slightly different injury,” Root said. “Jimmy in those conditions, if he bowls 15 overs, things could have been very different in the first innings in general.
Root said that picking Archer would not be a gamble if he gets through the workload this week.
“We’ll turn up to Lord’s and make sure we don’t make any shotgun decisions,” Root added.
England’s defeat at Edgbaston means that they face an uphill battle to wrestle the Ashes back from Australia, who have not won a Test series in England since 2001.
The home side have a number of issues to address aside from Anderson’s absence, needing to shore up their batting and find a chink in the armor of Steve Smith, who made two centuries in the match.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but