After much speculation, it has been confirmed that James Anderson will miss the first test of the series against South Africa. He has been sidelined thanks to an injury to his right calf muscle, however the injury is not thought to be serious and he should return to the England side for the second test, which starts on 2nd January in Cape Town.
Anderson’s withdrawal from the team leaves a huge hole for England to fill, as he is without doubt the most threatening of all England’s bowling options. Currently ranked the third best bowler in the world – behind only South Africa’s Dale Steyn (who has been declared fit for the opening test) and Ravichandran Ashwin of India – his ability to swing the ball both ways often causes carnage to the opposition batting line-up. Without him, England’s chances of beating the world’s number one test side are seriously dented.
The big question now is this: who will replace Anderson in the line-up? Clearly Stuart Broad will be playing as, after Anderson, he is England’s most lethal bowler. But England will need a couple more bowlers as well, and they’ll need to choose two from: Chris Woakes, Chris Jordan, Steve Finn and Mark Footitt, all of whom have a chance of making it into the squad.
After a fantastic outing during England’s comprehensive victory over South Africa A, Steve Finn looks to be the favourite to take one of the positions. His relative experience should also give him the edge, as England will need cool heads when facing the likes of de Villiers and Amla. Jordan is also in with a strong chance of being called up, as he has impressed during some previous matches.
Of course, it isn’t all doom and gloom for England fans though, as they only have to look back to the fourth test of the Ashes this year – a match that also saw Anderson sidelined through injury. And what happened there? Well, Stuart Broad rampaged through the Aussie attack, taking figures of 8-15 as England won by an innings and 78 runs.
The first test will start on the 26th December, and will be played in Durban. The two sides will then compete in three further tests (in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Centurion), before then taking part in five ODIs and two T20 matches. And after that? There’s the small matter of the ICC World Twenty20 to take part in…
