England bowler Anderson seeks Man City’s help in regaining fitness

(Reuters) - England fast bowler James Anderson has swapped the cricket nets for the facilities at the training ground of Premier League champions Manchester City in a bid to recover from a calf injury, the country’s cricket board said yesterday.

Anderson sustained the injury playing for Lancashire in July and managed only four overs in the opening Ashes test against Australia at Edgbaston. He was eventually ruled out of the five-match series that ended 2-2 as the visitors retained the urn. England play New Zealand in two tests in November and December but Anderson, the country’s leading wicket-taker with 575 test wickets, is targeting a return when they tour South Africa for a four-test series starting at the end of December.

“(Anderson) will be hoping to use the world class facilities at the Etihad Campus with the England Cricket sports science team over the next two months leading into the South Africa tour which starts in December,” an ECB spokesman told Reuters.

The ECB said Anderson, 37, would be accompanied by England’s national lead for strength and conditioning Rob Ahmun, who will oversee the sessions. TOKYO, (Reuters) - Rugby World Cup organisers are expected to announce today that England’s game against France on Saturday has been cancelled and that Sunday’s game between Japan and Scotland is in doubt, because of the potential impact of Typhoon Hagibis.

Tournament officials and the sport’s governing body World Rugby are due to hold a news conference in Tokyo on the issue at 0300 GMT, with British and local media reporting widely that the England versus France game in Yokohama will not go ahead.

The fierce tropical storm, predicted to be one of the most violent to hit the region in recent years, is expected to strike the Tokyo area this weekend. Tournament rules state that any pool game that cannot be played is not rescheduled and instead is recorded as a 0-0 draw, with no bonus points available.

That means England and France, who have both already qualified, would finish first and second respectively in Pool C.

If the second match were to be cancelled, Japan would go into the quarterfinals for the first time, top of Group A. Ireland would then need any sort of victory in their final game against Samoa on Saturday - or even a bonus point should they lose - to join them, with Scotland eliminated.

If the news is confirmed it would be the first time a World Cup match has been cancelled.

The 1995 semi-final between hosts South Africa and France was delayed an hour due to a waterlogged pitch, but famously went ahead after cleaning ladies took to it with brooms.