Tag: James Anderson

England are set to make a decision over veteran paceman James Anderson’s place in the side after naming an unchanged squad for this week’s final Ashes Test against Australia at The Oval.

Rain at the England great’s Old Trafford home ground washed out all of Sunday’s play and condemned the fourth Test to a draw.

That ensured holders Australia, 2-1 ahead with one to play, retained the Ashes and wrecked any chance of a winner-takes-all decider in London.

But an England win would square the series at 2-2 — the same result as when they last staged the Ashes in 2019 — and deny Australia a much longed for first away Ashes campaign triumph in 22 years.

England named an unchanged 14-man squad on Monday, with the spotlight on whether James Anderson will still be in their XI come Thursday’s opening day at The Oval.

Anderson’s 689 Test wickets are the most taken by any fast bowler, with only spinners Muttiah Muralitharan (800) and Shane Warne (708) ahead of him in the all-time list.

But in the current series James Anderson, who turns 41 on Sunday, has taken just four wickets in three Tests at a hugely expensive average of 76.75 apiece.

He took just one wicket at Old Trafford after being rested for England’s win in the third Test at Headingley.

But with Ollie Robinson fit following a back spasm and novice international fast bowler Josh Tongue also in the squad, England do have alternative options.

Mark Wood and Chris Woakes, who struggled with stiffness near the end of the fourth Test, have impressed since being recalled into the side, while Stuart Broad is the leading wicket-taker in the whole Ashes.

If Anderson is left out at the Oval, it could mean he has made the last appearance of his celebrated Test career, with England handing out their latest round of central contracts before the end of this year.

England’s batting line-up is set to be unchanged after six of the top seven all made at least fifty in a total of 592 at Old Trafford.

England squad for fifth Ashes Test: Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Moeen Ali, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (capt), Jonny Bairstow (wk), Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Ollie Robinson, Josh Tongue, Dan Lawrence.

READ: Australia retain Ashes after fourth Test washout

LONDON: Veteran pacer James Anderson has been recalled to England’s Playing XI for the fourth Ashes Test against Australia.

Experienced pacer James Anderson was added back to England’s Playing XI and replaced Ollie Robinson, who struggled with back spasms in the third Ashes Test at Headingley.

James Anderson, who could pick three wickets in the first two Ashes Tests at 75.33, was short of his best after returning from a groin injury, sustained while playing for Lancashire in the County Championship.

Another key change to England’s lineup was a shuffle to their batting order with Moeen Ali to bat at No. 3.

The spin all-rounder, who reversed his Test retirement for the Ashes, batted at No. 7 in the first innings of the third Test before being promoted to No.3 in the second inning.

The change in Ali’s batting position, enables Harry Brook to bat at his favour spot of No.5.

Although Ali could only make five in his new role but Brook’s 75 in his favoured spot vindicated the move.

Besides Ali’s promotion, England retained the same batting order with Ben Stokes at No.6 with wicketkeeper batter Jonny Bairstow to follow.

“We thought that him coming in at No. 3, he was able to impact the game more than he would be at No. 7,” stated Stokes.

“I just love the fact that Mo is willing to put himself in those situations; that he wants to get out there and help the team in a positive way… Mo going to Baz and saying, ‘I want the opportunity’ is everything that we’re about as a team.”

Ben Stokes-led England are eyeing a miraculous comeback in the Ashes remainder and will have to imitate an 86-year-old record of Don Bradman’s Australian side, which shrugged off the 2-0 deficit to win an Ashes series.

England Playing XI for fourth Ashes Test: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Moeen Ali, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jonny Bairstow, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, Stuart Broad, James Anderson.

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Veteran pacer James Anderson has been left out of England’s Playing XI for the third Ashes Test, scheduled to commence from July 6 at Headingley.

Hosts England, who are 0-2 down in the ongoing Ashes series, on Wednesday, named their Playing XI for the must-win third Test and made three changes.

Veteran pacer James Anderson has been excluded from the Playing XI and was replaced by lethal pacer Mark Wood.

According to a statement released by England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) on Wednesday, both Anderson and fellow paceman Josh Tongue have been “rested,” while express pacer Wood and fast-bowling all-arounder Chris Woakes have taken their places.

Moeen Ali, who came out of Test retirement for the Ashes, returned to England’s Playing XI for the third Test after missing the Lord’s Test due to a blister on his right hand’s index finger.

The off-spinner replaced England’s vice-captain Ollie Pope, who has been ruled out of the remainder of the Ashes series with a dislocated shoulder.

Harry Brook has now been promoted up the order to take Pope’s place at No 3.

Ben Stokes-led England are eyeing a miraculous comeback in the Ashes remainder and will have to imitate an 86-year-old record of Don Bradman’s Australian side to shrug off the 2-0 deficit to win an Ashes series.

On the contrary, if Australia emerge victorious at Headingley, Pat Cummins will become the first Australian captain to win an away Ashes series after a long 22-year hiatus.

England’s Playing XI for the third Test:

Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Harry Brook, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow (wkt), Ben Stokes (c), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, Ollie Robinson, Stuart Broad.

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LONDON: Veteran England pacer James Anderson on Tuesday, provided a much-anticipated update regarding his groin injury ahead of the one-off Test against Ireland and The Ashes following that.

The 40-year-old Anderson, the most successful fast bowler in Test history with 685 wickets, sustained the injury on Thursday’s opening day of Lancashire’s County Championship match against Somerset at Old Trafford and took no further part in a match that ended in a draw on Sunday.

James Anderson then underwent a scan on the injury on Saturday, with Lancashire coach Glen Chapple telling the BBC it was not “anything too serious”.

He was then named in England’s 15-member squad for the one-off Test against Ireland and has now allayed any concerns regarding his availability.

“I’m not worried about it,” James Anderson told the BBC’s Tailenders podcast.

“It’s obviously not great getting injured but it’s probably the best outcome for what it is, because it’s a low-grade thing and I think in a couple of weeks I’ll be back to full fitness,” he said.

“It’s frustrating because you always want to feel good and get enough bowling in before a series and you want to be fresh, so it’s now about trying to plan the best route through this summer.”

The 40-year-old, on the other hand, indicated that it wasn’t ideal because he needed some game time before the big summer. Although James Anderson is in the squad for the Ireland Test, he does not want to rush things because the Ashes are soon after.

“I felt like I needed to play this game so it’s not ideal, but I’m not stressed about it.

“I’m just taking it day by day and seeing how it goes because obviously I don’t want to risk anything by making it worse.

“I’m more confident I can get this one right [than in 2019] and give the Ashes a right good crack.”

It is worth mentioning here that England’s recently-announced squad for Ireland Test, marked the return of their aggressive wicket-keeper batter Jonathan Bairstow, who last played international cricket in September 2021, before a golf accident left him with a fractured leg and dislocated ankle.

SQUAD: Ben Stokes (c), James Anderson, Jonathan Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.

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LONDON: James Anderson has suffered a “mild strain to his right groin” just a month before the Ashes get underway, the England and Wales Cricket Board announced late Sunday.

The 40-year-old Anderson, the most successful fast bowler in Test history with 685 wickets, sustained the injury on Thursday’s opening day of Lancashire’s County Championship match against Somerset at Old Trafford and took no further part in a match that ended in a draw on Sunday.

The ECB added Anderson’s fitness will be assessed nearer the time of the lone Test Test against Ireland at Lord’s starting on June 1.

England are due to name a squad for the Ireland game, which precedes a five-match Ashes series against arch-rivals Australia commencing on June 16, later this week.

Anderson had a scan on the injury on Saturday, with Lancashire coach Glen Chapple telling the BBC it was not “anything too serious”.

Nevertheless, England will want to avoid a repeat of the situation in the 2019 Ashes opener at Edgbaston where Anderson bowled just four overs before pulling out, having torn his calf playing for Lancashire.

With substitutes unable to bowl, his absence left a huge hole in England’s attack as Australia won by 251 runs.

That series ended in a 2-2 draw, with holders Australia retaining the Ashes.

Anderson’s latest injury adds to a growing list of fitness problems suffered by England fast bowlers, with Jofra Archer, Olly Stone and Brydon Carse all sidelined in recent weeks.

Archer returned from the Indian Premier League with a recurrence of his longstanding elbow problem, Stone suffered a hamstring injury playing for Nottinghamshire and Carse, uncapped at Test level, was laid low by a side injury playing for Durham.

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LONDON: England veteran pacer James Anderson heaped praises on Babar Azam, saying he would spend the whole budget on the star Pakistan batter after none of the franchises picked him in the Hundred draft. 

Babar was reserved a price of £100,000 for the draft but went unsold in the drafting process held last week.

While speaking in BBC’s Tailender Podcast Anderson expressed surprise over the development, asserting, “there might have been an availability issue”, which was why Babar had not been picked for the tournament.

“Why was Babar not picked up? Was his price too high?” asked the host.

“I’ll pay double for him [Babar Azam]. I’ll spend the whole budget on Babar Azam. The only thing I can guess is that there might have been an availability issue, which is why he wasn’t picked.” replied Anderson.

The 40-year-old revealed how, at one point, he too was passed over in the IPL auction.

“I went into the IPL auction once and didn’t get picked up,” he recalled.

It is pertinent to mention here that none of the teams at the Hundred draft showed their interest in picking Pakistan batters, including the all-format captain Babar and second-ranked T20I batter Mohammad Rizwan due to concerns over their availability.

Only four Pakistani players, all bowlers, were picked by three teams for the Hundred 2023 which include Shaheen Shah Afridi (Welsh Fire), Haris Rauf (Welsh Fire), Shadab Khan (Birmingham Pheonix) and Ihsanullah (Oval Invincibles).

READ: England’s Bairstow hopes to return for Ireland Test

DUBAI: India’s veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin dropped six rating points as per the latest International Cricket Council (ICC) Test bowling rankings released on Wednesday but retained the top spot with England’s pacer James Anderson.

Ashwin, who surged to the top spot in the Test bowling rankings last week, saw a frustrating dip in his rating points as he could take four wickets in two innings of the third Test against Australia.

A slump in the spinner’s rating points, allowed Anderson to share the top spot with 859 points each.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s ace pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi also jumped a spot in the rankings and replaced his Indian counterpart Jasprit Bumrah to capture the fifth spot.

Australia’s third Test hero Nathan Lyon got the reward of his magnificent bowling figures as the right-arm spinner stormed into the Top 10 rankings, jumping six places to claim ninth rank.

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DUBAI: England veteran pacer James Anderson ended the supremacy of Australia captain Pat Cummins on the ICC Test bowlers’ rankings after four years.

Veteran Anderson dethroned Cummins to become the No.1 Test bowler in the ICC rankings, on the back of his seven-wicket haul during England’s dominant  267-run win over the Black Caps in Mount Maunganui last week.

At the ripe age of 40 years and 207 days, Anderson is also the oldest player to claim top billing in the rankings – a record which was earlier held by the Australian leg-spinner Clarrie Grimmett back in 1936.

“It is the sixth time that Anderson has held the title as the premier bowler on the Test rankings, with the right-armer first scaling the heights back in May 2016 when he went past teammate Stuart Broad and Ashwin to hold top billing.” said International Cricket Council on its website.

Anderson has been a mainstay in England’s bowling attack in the longest format of the game since he made his debut way back in 2003. He has taken a total of 682 Test scalps to be third on the all-time list of leading wicket-takers behind spin duo Muttiah Muralitharan (800) and Shane Warne (708).

“Anderson’s lead at the top is very slender though, with Ashwin remaining in second place on a total of 864 rating points and just two rating points behind the England pacer.” added ICC.

Cummins, who drops to third with 858 rating points, has a chance to regain the top spot through solid performances during Australia’s ongoing Test series against India.

On the other hand, Sri Lanka’s Wanindu Hasaranga has surpassed Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan to top the T20I bowling rankings, as a consequence of Rashid’s unimpressive showing in the three matches against UAE held recently during which he took only four wickets

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MANCHESTER: England’s magical pace duo of James Anderson and Stuart Broad stormed through the South African batting line to restrict the touring side to 151 on the opening day of the second Test, here at Old Trafford on Thursday. 

Anderson shone on his historic 100th Test appearance at home as he grabbed three wickets alongside Broad who also grabbed three to cut short the Proteas’ innings after they opted to bat first.

Jonny Bairstow and Zak Crawley, on the other hand, bolstered their team’s position as they raised an unbeaten 68-run partnership, after initial blows by Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi and Anrich Nortje, to help England raise 111/3 at the end of the first day’s play.

England went through a dismal start as opener Alex Lees (4) was dismissed early by Ngidi in a caught-behind wicket after facing just seven balls. Whereas, Nortje bowled out Ollie Pope for 23 off 27 while he was looking in fine touch.

England’s reliable middle-order batter Joe Root failed to impress as he could only manage 9 off 15 before Rabada removed him.

Earlier, in the first innings, England’s fierce pace attack ran through South Africa as they lost wickets at regular intervals with tail-ender Rabadda leading the scorecard for his team as he played a valiant knock of 36 off 72, laced with two boundaries.

Besides Rabadda, Kyle Verreynne scored 21 off 49 and Keegan Petersen also managed 21 off 29 amid South Africa’s disappointing day with the bat. 

For England, apart from Broad and Anderson, Ben Stokes grabbed two wickets while Ollie Robinson and Jack Leach made a scalp apiece.

England will resume their innings on the second day with the overnight pair of Crawley and Bairstow on the respective score of 23 and 38.

It is pertinent to mention here that South Africa have 1-0 lead in the three-match series as they defeated England by an innings and 12 runs in the first Test at Lord’s.

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LONDON: England veteran right-arm pacer James Anderson revealed the incident from the hosts’ dressing room amid Edgbaston Test against India and claimed the skipper Ben Stokes asked him to score the winning runs for the team.

With England approaching the record target on the final day of the rescheduled Test, Anderson revealed that discussions were taking place about who would bat next, with Stokes – usually England’s No.6 – suggesting that others in the dressing room take the chance of hitting the winning runs.

“Because there was a new ball coming up, they thought, ‘Let’s try and finish it before the new ball. So if we lose a wicket, we’ll send Broady in and he can literally just try and hit every ball for six’. Between 67 and 75 overs or something like that. So then the deeper we got – I think it was about 20 runs left – Broady was like, ‘Right, that’s me done, someone else can go in next’,” Anderson revealed.

“So then Stokesy comes up to me and said, ‘You’ve never hit the winning runs. So if we need four to win, and [Ravindra] Jadeja’s bowling for example, do you fancy going in and hitting the winning runs?’ I just felt really uncomfortable with it. I thought it was a little bit too piss-takey. So I was like, ‘I’m not sure I’m comfortable with that’,” he further claimed.

The veteran pacer then went on to reveal that following this incident no one in the dressing room had padded up to go in and finish the job at No.6 as Sam Billings was the latest batter to have turned down Stokes’s idea of taking the chance to score the winning runs.

“So then he goes to Sam Billings who was batting at seven. ‘It’s a great chance to hit the winning runs in a Test match’. And again, he was like, ‘No, no, no, you’re next, you’re the captain you should go’. So we ended up, 20 runs left, Stuart Broad had decided he wasn’t going in, so he took his pads off,” Anderson disclosed.

“Sam Billings didn’t have his pads on. I wouldn’t put my pads on. And Ben Stokes also didn’t put his pads on. So we had no one padded up for the last 20 runs of that game. That’s how relaxed everyone was,” he concluded.

It is pertinent to mention here that England, in the end, did not need a No.6 as they defeated India by seven wickets on the back of an astounding unbeaten partnership between Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow.

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