James accepts he will have to take his turn
JAMES Anderson accepts that England may need to rotate their seamers during next month’s Test series against the West Indies after their enforced break from competitive action.
The lengthy coronavirus lockdown could yet extend the careers of players who all too rarely get time away from the international treadmill, but in the short term injuries appear more likely.
A three-match series in little more than three weeks will place considerable strain on bodies that have been out of their usual routine for the best part of four months, which is why England have put together a training group of 55.
Around 30 are due to be kept on as part of an enlarged squad in preparation for the first Test on July 8 and 37-year-old Anderson knows to expect more rotation than usual.
Having spent several months out of action with a calf injury in 2019, only to break a rib in his second match back against South Africa in January, the country’s record wicket-taker is just the kind of asset England will be eager to protect.
“Obviously there are concerns – we’re not going to have had any competitive cricket before that first Test match and we’ve got three Tests in quick succession,” said Anderson.
“There are obviously things we need to look at in terms of workloads and whether we play all three as bowlers or whether we rotate.
“I’m sure the medical staff and coaches are doing their due diligence on that.
“It’s something we’ll have to look at in a few weeks’ time but at the moment I’m enjoying being back and feeling really good.”
Anderson has been bowling to Test opener Keaton Jennings at Emirates Old Trafford in recent days, a welcome step up from his improvised home-based drills .
“Training has been going really well, I managed to tick over quite well during lockdown,” he said.
“Luckily I’ve got enough space to fit half my run-up in on my driveway, so when I came back to training at Lancashire it’s not been going in cold. I felt like I hit the ground running pretty well. I’ve enjoyed being back.”
Meanwhile, Pakistan have announced they will tour England for three Tests and three Twenty20s in August and September.
It was widely anticipated Pakistan would make the trip to these shores later this summer after the West Indies series.
But this is the first time they have confirmed definitively that they will travel to England, with the Pakistan Cricket Board intending to send 28 players and 14 support personnel.
Left-arm paceman Mohammad Amir and middle-order batsman Haris Sohail will not be among that number, having withdrawn for personal reasons.
“Amir has withdrawn so that he can be at the birth of his second child in August, while Haris will miss the tour because of family reasons,” the Pakistan Cricket Board said in a statement.
“Pakistan will send 28 players and 14 player-support personnel for three Tests and three T20IS to be played in August and September. The squad as well as pre-series and series schedule will be announced in due course.” The England and Wales Cricket Board is understood to be around a week or two away from formalising the tour and the specific dates but Pakistan’s readiness to participate augurs well.
Amir would have been available for the three T20s only after announcing his retirement from Test cricket last year.
Sohail, meanwhile, has made 14 appearances in both Tests and T20s, averaging an encouraging 37.22 in the former with two centuries. But he has just two fifties in T20s and a strikerate of 102.94 - fairly modest for the format.
There are obviously things we need to look at in terms of workloads and whether we play all three as bowlers or whether we rotate.