The fitness of English bowling great James Anderson is somewhat a mystery after the 39-year-old was withdrawn from the first Ashes Test.
England today announced the veteran paceman will not don the whites at the Gabba tomorrow.
It came as a shock, despite the understanding Anderson would likely need a rest at some stage during the five-match series, given his age and recent injury concerns. No one thought it would be the first Test that he missed.
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A calf strain was initially believed to be the cause of his Gabba withdrawal.
Anderson is the most successful Test fast bowler of all time, having taken 632 wickets in 166 matches. But his record in Brisbane is woeful, taking a measly seven wickets in four Tests at a horrendous average of 75.14.
The England camp is adamant it was always the plan to rest the talisman for game one.
“Jimmy’s not going to play but he is fit,” vice-captain Jos Buttler said.
“It’s obviously a very long series, and we want a guy like that to be available to play as much as possible.
“I think it’s just precautionary, he bowled well yesterday, he’ll bowl again today, he bowled a few spells in the couple of days we had as a warm-up game.
“He is fit, but the guys are just being super cautious.
“He’s fit, he’s good to go I think. He had an injury at the end of the summer in England, but the way the build-up has been, it’s been challenging. But again, I faced him in the nets yesterday and he looked pretty good.”
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If the Australian camp was shocked by the news, new captain Pat Cummins certainly didn’t let on.
“I think coming into this series he said it was going to be unlikely he would play all five Tests,” Cummins said.
“He’s obviously a great player and it’s a shame he won’t be out there tomorrow. But it doesn’t change what we have to do.
“We’ve had our 11 set for a couple of weeks now. We’ve had a look at the wicket, it looks like a normal, good Gabba wicket. The weather looks to be a little more encouraging than it was a couple of days ago.”
Anderson’s withdrawal may not have surprised the two opposing camps, but there was plenty of confusion outside the Ashes bubble.
Former Australian Test batsman Damien Martyn called it “crazy nonsense” that England would leave its best ever pace bowler out of the XI for an Ashes game.
Anderson is third on the all-time Test wickets tally, sitting behind only spin legends Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne.
https://twitter.com/damienmartyn/status/1468050312107741184?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
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