“Unfortunately, Jimmy is not going to make it”

Image courtesy of: Zimbio

England pace bowler James Anderson will not feature in the fifth and final Ashes Test against Australia as he is still recovering from a side strain.

Anderson suffered the injury during the third Test at Edgbaston and was subsequently forced to miss the fourth Test in Nottingham, where England regained the Ashes after taking an unassailable 3-1 lead in the series courtesy of their innings and 78-run win.

England captain Alastair Cook revealed that Anderson has been working extremely hard to be fully fit for the final Test, but confirmed that he is still not at 100 per cent.

Even if Anderson were almost fully fit, the national selectors would probably still rest him as they don’t want to see the national team’s pace spearhead aggravate his injury and be ruled out for a longer period of time.

“Unfortunately, Jimmy is not going to make it,” Cook told reporters. “He is gutted about it. He has made good progress, real good progress actually, from where he was at Edgbaston, but it is probably a week or so too early.

“He bowled in the nets yesterday but at about 60 or 70 per cent. That is not how you go into a game.

“He is gutted, he has worked really hard with the fitness guys. The medical team have been brilliant with him but it is just about a week too early.”

The final Ashes Test between England and Australia gets underway on Thursday at The Oval.