Anderson will miss the first Test against South Africa
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England pace bowler James Anderson has been ruled out of the first Test against South Africa in Durban due to a calf injury.
Anderson complained of tightness in his calf and underwent scans on Tuesday. However, instead of allowing Anderson to play and risk him aggravating his injury, England opted to leave him out for the Boxing Day Test.
Despite Anderson’s absence, fellow seamer Stuart Broad believes that the 33-year-old can play a major role during the first Test as he can share his knowledge and experience of bowling on South African soil.
“He’s already announced himself as assistant bowling coach to Ottis Gibson,” he told Sky Sports. “He’s very keen to share his wealth of experience. We haven’t toured here for six years – a long gap – and I don’t know how good his memory is but he will be able to help whoever takes the new ball.
“Jimmy said when he missed game in the Ashes that you see the game differently from the changing room to the middle, so having that experience to feed back into the group will help.”
Broad added that he is not concerned about not having Anderson in the side as England have a plethora of pace bowlers that are capable of filling his shoes for the first Test.
“Of course it’s disappointing when you lose the spearhead of your attack but rather than be disappointed and start thinking he’s out for the series – this is only a minor niggle,” he said. “He’s only out for the first Test match of the series; it’s a four-Test series and we want him to play some part in it. There’s not the need to take the risk with him because of the depth we have in the squad.
“He’s disappointed he’s missing the Test match but it’s not a hammer blow to us. I think he could be okay for Cape Town – if you speak to him he’ll probably tell you he could play here but there is something slightly off with it.
“The medical staff don’t want to take a huge risk with him. It might have been a different story if this was the final Test of the series.
“With Steven Finn coming back and bowling nicely we’ve got good depth.”