England’s all-time leading wicket-taker James Anderson has been ruled out of the final two tests against South Africa with a rib injury. The swing bowler picked up the injury on the fifth day of the second Test but continued bowling, aggravating it in the process.
The Englishman took a scan in Cape Town after the match, which revealed that he had a bone related injury that will keep him out of action for the next couple of months. The 37-year-old has therefore returned to England to continue his rehab, while Craig Overton has been roped into the squad as his cover.
Frustrating to be missing the rest of this series with a broken rib but hopefully will be healed in a few weeks! Will be supporting the boys from home 🦁🦁🦁 pic.twitter.com/rPM3FebQi5
— James Anderson (@jimmy9) January 8, 2020
James Anderson has been England’s pace bowling talisman for the last decade or so, being a constant threat for all visiting teams with his swing and drift. The seamer from Lancashire has 584 Test wickets - the most by an active cricket player. However, the big caveat to Anderson’s stellar record is that almost all of his memorable performances have come on home turf, with his bowling averages away from home taking a significant dip.
Poor away record
Out of his 584 wickets in Test matches, 390 of those have come on home turf. Anderson has played 61 Test matches away from home in his career and has 194 Test wickets to show for it. That averages to just over three wickets every Test, which is a significant dip from his home form. Anderson’s bowling averages stands at 33.36 runs away from home as compared to his career average which stands at 26.83. The seamer also has only seven five-wicket halls when not using a Dukes ball.
Anderson’s record gets slightly worse when looking at Tests played in South Africa. He has 34 wickets in his 10 Tests played in South Africa, which averages to around three wickets a game. The 37-year-old has a worse bowling average only in Sri Lanka and Australia.
The seamer struggled to find his length in the first two Tests against South Africa as well, picking up only nine wickets in four innings’ he has played. Anderson’s strike rate has also been poor, meandering in the mid-forties which is a far cry from his home record.
Plenty of other options
In the first test against the Proteas, England decided to go in with four pacers, playing Anderson, Stuart Broad, Sam Curran and Jofra Archer together with spinners Jack Leach and Dom Bess left out. The decision backfired as South Africa’s batsmen were on top of the match and ended up winning the match by 107 runs. The Proteas’ spinner Keshav Maharaj played a pivotal role in that victory, claiming the wickets of opener Dom Sibley and Ben Stokes in the second innings.
In the second Test, Archer suffered an injury which provided a route in for Dom Bess; and the leggie picked up the wicket of the opposition skipper, helping England get a memorable victory and level the series. Now in the third test, Archer is back to full fitness and had it not been for the Anderson injury, either young prospect Sam Curran or Stuart Broad would have had to be sacrificed.
Both those bowlers have performed decently so far in the Test series, both of whom have picked up eight wickets so far. Also, on the grassy pitches of South Africa, the pace of Curran will be more beneficial than the swing of Anderson. The southpaw also offers much more with the bat, which could come in very handy with the Test series tied at 1-1.
James Anderson’s injury, while unfortunate could be a blessing in disguise for the English cricket team because ultimately, it is about playing horses for courses and winning a Test series for Joe Root and his team.
Photo courtesy: Lindsey Parnaby/ AFP
