England are preparing for Jimmy Anderson to be ruled out of the first Test against South Africa on Boxing Day, with Stuart Broad again stepping up to lead the bowling attack.
Anderson had a scan on a tight right calf muscle on Tuesday – a complaint he had since the start of the tour – and while an update is not expected until Thursday’s training session at Kingsmead at the earliest, the likelihood of his making the XI for the series opener appears remote.
With only two days between the first and second Test, travel factored in and Anderson having bowled only five overs in England’s first warm-up match a week ago, the team management will not be inclined to gamble on the 33-year-old’s fitness at the start of a four-match series against the world’s No1 side.
Anderson’s chances of playing in Cape Town would then depend on the work done with England’s medical staff during the Durban Test, although with such little cricket under his belt the third fixture in Johannesburg that starts on 14 January could now represent a more realistic target.
While replacing England’s record Test wicket-taker is almost impossible, Warwickshire’s Chris Woakes, who like Anderson was rested for the second warm-up match against South Africa A this week, is the bowler expected to deputise, a move that would also strengthen their batting further.
Of additional comfort to Trevor Bayliss is Steven Finn’s recovery from a foot injury – he claimed six wickets in that match in Pietermaritzburg – while Broad has previously shone as the senior man, with his Ashes-sealing eight for 15 at Trent Bridge last summer coming when Anderson was out with a side strain.
“From Stuart’s point of view we’ve got an obvious replacement as leader of the attack there,” Bayliss said. “I’m sure he would show he could handle that as he did against Australia. And we’ve got a good squad of bowlers on this tour. If it gets to that, we’ve got plenty of cover.”
Doubts over Anderson’s chances have already pricked ears in the South Africa camp, with the fast bowler Morne Morkel claiming it would be a “massive blow’ should a bowler with 426 Test wickets be missing from the early exchanges.
South Africa’s attack is similarly not at full strength, however. Vernon Philander is already ruled out of at least the first and second Test following an ankle ligament tear suffered during the 3-0 defeat away to India, while Dale Steyn has not played any cricket since a groin problem flared up on that tour.
Asked if South Africa are vulnerable, Bayliss said: “It’s a bit hard to say that as they’re still the No1 ranked team and playing at home. So I’m not going to make any predictions there. We just want to concentrate on playing some good cricket.”
AB de Villiers, set to keep wicket for South Africa in the series, has also questioned England’s batting strength beyond Alastair Cook and Joe Root, claiming there are “areas we can expose”. But after seeing each of his top six make scores of 50 or more in the warm-up, Bayliss is not concerned.
He said: “If they’re good enough to go out there and score runs then their experience doesn’t really matter. All the batters have showed some ability in both the warm-up games and it was good to see in both games that we scored runs.
“We’re happy with our preparation. A number of batsmen spent good time in the middle and all of our bowlers got into a good hit out and some of them got into good wicket-taking form.”
