While the fourth instalment of this summer’s see-saw Ashes series will represent the first time since becoming England captain three years ago that Alastair Cook has not been able to throw the ball to Jimmy Anderson in a Test match, he can still tap his attack leader’s specialist knowledge of Trent Bridge.
Cook has requested that the 33-year-old, who misses his first Test since 2012 through a side strain picked up during the eight-wicket win against Australia at Edgbaston, remains with the squad for a crunch match on the ground where he has claimed six five-wicket hauls – the most in his 107-cap career to date.
Despite seeing a run of 37 consecutive Test appearances come to an end, Anderson has been only too happy to oblige and will continue to feed into England’s tactics alongside the bowling coach, Ottis Gibson, as they look to secure the victory that would win back the Ashes 18 months after their harrowing 5-0 whitewash in Australia.
Anderson remains upbeat about his chances of being fit for the fifth Test at the Kia Oval, which starts on 20 August, after initial fears the inswinger that crashed into Mitchell Johnson’s pads on Thursday afternoon may have been his last ball sent down in Ashes cricket. This optimism is based on a revised diagnosis from the England medical staff, who will now be able to oversee his rehabilitation at close quarters.
In the meantime, the in-form Stuart Broad will step up as the senior bowler on his home ground, one wicket short of 300 in Tests. The pair have continued to discuss plans for Australia’s batsmen over the weekend, with Broad putting up his injured friend at his house in Nottingham in between the back-to-back matches.
Yorkshire’s Liam Plunkett and the Derbyshire left-armer Mark Footitt have been added to the squad for the fourth Test at Trent Bridge but England are hopeful that a painkilling injection to Mark Wood’s troublesome left ankle will enable him to return after missing out at Edgbaston, having claimed 15 wickets in three championship matches on the ground for Durham.
Should he be passed fit, the 25-year-old could even share new ball duties with Broad despite Steven Finn’s eight wickets on his Test comeback following a two-year absence from the side.
Trevor Bayliss has been assured of Wood’s credentials as an opening bowler after an endorsement from Gibson. “Ottis thinks if we get an opportunity we should give Woody the new ball,” the England head coach said after the win at Edgbaston, “because he has been quite dangerous with the new ball with his county team. We’ll just have to wait and see who ends up in the XI.”
The Australia captain, Michael Clarke, a man with problems mounting up on his side of the divide as the grumbling over the wicketkeeper Brad Haddin’s axe for the third Test rumbles on, compared Anderson’s injury to Glenn McGrath’s absence for their two defeats in the famous 2005 series.
Certainly losing a bowler with 413 Test wickets is a twist in the plot but in Finn, Bayliss appears to have a fast bowler reborn. Having been sent home from the 2013-14 tour of Australia following a breakdown in his bowling action, the 26-year-old’s comeback has impressed his head coach, who never doubted he could step up if required.
“The thing that tells you he is a Test bowler is the fact he has been able to put that behind him and come out and do what he did in this match,” Bayliss said of the Middlesex man. “Since I have been here he has been fantastic around the group. I had no problems at all that if he got a game somewhere that he’d be able to perform.”
