James Anderson discloses hamstring niggle: The veteran English pacer has all but played his last Test match in Australia.
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Veteran pacer James Anderson was among the five changes which England had made for the ongoing fifth Ashes 2021-22 Test match against Australia in England.
Other than Anderson, batters Haseeb Hameed and Jonny Bairstow, wicket-keeper Jos Buttler and spinner Jack Leach had made way for opening batter Rory Burns, batter Ollie Pope, debutant wicket-keeper batter Sam Billings, all-rounder Chris Woakes and pacer Ollie Robinson.
Considering multiple changes, Root wasn’t asked at the toss about the rationale behind benching Anderson for what could’ve been his last Test match in Australia.
James Anderson discloses hamstring niggle kept him out of 5th Ashes 2021-22 Test
Contrary to the general perception of Anderson missing the final Test in Hobart in a bid to not exhaust him in a dead-rubber, the 39-year old bowler has disclosed the presence of a hamstring injury which kept him out of selection.
“I had a bit of a hamstring issue that was just making me lose power when I was bowling. It crept in the back end of Sydney [Test] and they [medical staff and team management] felt it wasn’t quite good enough for this game so I missed out,” Anderson told Channel 7 midway through the match on Day 3.
Scheduled to play a three-match Test series in West Indies in March, it only makes sense to not take a risk by putting unnecessary workload on Anderson. However, considering how the English bowlers have called the shots with a pink ball at the Bellerive Oval, Anderson would’ve surely made a significant difference had he played in this match.
In three Tests on this tour, Anderson has picked eight wickets at an average and strike rate of 23.37 and 78 respectively. In 21 Tests in Australia across five Ashes series, Anderson’s 68 wickets have come at an average and strike rate of 34.01 and 72.7 respectively.
