James Anderson may miss Ireland test to be fit for Ashes against Australia, England star recovering from injury

James Anderson knows he might need to sit out of England’s first Test of the summer if he is to be fit for the Ashes opener against Australia at Edgbaston. The country’s record wicket-taker has been included in the squad for next month’s one-off Test match against Ireland, despite pulling up with a groin injury during Lancashire’s County Championship clash with Somerset last week. Ad Scans have shown the problem to be mild and the England and Wales Cricket Board say Anderson will be “assessed nearer the time” of the Ireland fixture.

CricketArcher to miss Ashes due to injury as England recall BairstowYESTERDAY AT 12:35 At a sponsor event, Anderson said: “I think I will be fit for the Ireland game. Whether I play or not is probably another matter really. I definitely don’t want to risk it.

“I am desperate to be fit for the first Ashes Test. If that means missing the Ireland Test, so be it. “It’s a 10-day recovery period, and I’m rehabbing already, running next week.” The injury happened during Anderson’s fourth outing of the county season and he said: “I was disappointed to have to pull out of a game but, with what’s to come in the summer, it was actually a pretty good result.

“It was weird how it worked out. The last ball of my spell I felt something not quite right. I came straight off, and then we came pretty much straight off for rain after that.

I pulled up the next day and it wasn’t right. I went for a scan that night and it showed a strain, so there was no point risking it.” Anderson has faced fitness battles ahead of the Ashes before. In 2019, he fought back from a torn calf but went down injured on the first morning of the first Test and missed the rest of the summer.