Lancs hit by Jimmy injury blow
JIMMY Anderson has given England and Lancashire an injury scare after suffering a groin problem during the opening morning of the Roses clash at Old Trafford yesterday.
The country’s leading Test wickettaker was steaming in from the Statham End during his sixth over when he pulled up sharply as he reached the pitch, and fell to the ground.
He immediately clutched his groin and looked in real pain as the Lancashire physio tended to him. He walked off without help, but didn’t return to the field for the rest of the day and isn’t likely to take part in the rest of the game.
“Jimmy has a tight groin, he felt a sharp pain and came off,” said Lancashire head coach Glen Chapple. “He has had ice on it all afternoon and it will be assessed again in the morning.
“If he is still feeling it tomorrow, he will probably need a scan.
“You are not going to risk anything with Jimmy. We have to respect what he has coming up, he is not someone like me who you can just push out there! “We will take every precaution. “The Test series is seven weeks away so we are clear what we have to do with him.”
Anderson missed most of last winter’s Test schedule with England because of a shoulder injury, but has played all eight of Lancashire’s Royal London Cup 50-over matches and two of their previous three Specsavers County Championship games.
Anderson had been scheduled to play in Lancashire’s next three Championship matches after the Roses clash.
He was in fine form before the injury struck yesterday, having produced a beauty to bowl Alex Lees in his third over and when he left the field he had figures of 1-5 from his 5.3 overs, including four maidens.
With Kyle Jarvis having broken his thumb in training on Thursday, the last thing Lancashire needed was their other opening bowling picking up an injury.
And it seemed to rock them a little in the morning session as, having reduced Yorkshire to 9-2 after the visitors chose to bat, Gary Ballance and Peter Handscomb took the White Rose to 90-2.
But then Lancashire hit back, with the impressive Ryan McLaren trapping Handscomb lbw for 29 and then Tom Bailey claiming the key wicket of the in-form Ballance for 74, caught by Stephen Parry at mid-off.
McLaren then produced a low one that nipped back to bowl Tim Bresnan, while Parry had Azeem Rafiq caught at mid-wicket for 16. But an unbeaten 73-run stand by Jack Leaning (74no) and Andy Hodd (41no) saw Yorkshire finish on 251-6.