LANCASHIRE and England seamer Jimmy Anderson has been ruled out of England’s Test tour of Bangladesh due to a shoulder injury.
Anderson, 34, has not played since the fourth Test versus Pakistan in August having been rested to give him time to recover from a stress fracture to his right shoulder blade.
Given the recovery time, England’s selectors would have hoped he would be fully fit for the winter tours of Bangladesh and India.
However, England will be without their record wicket taker for the Bangladesh Test series which begins in Chittagong on October 20, and he is even a doubt for the tour of India, which starts on November 9.
The injury was originally discovered in July, but rightly or wrongly Anderson was still selected for three of the four Test matches versus Pakistan.
It is thought he picked up the injury whilst bowling versus Sri Lanka earlier in the summer.
Anderson featured in the County Championship four times for Lancashire prior to picking up this injury taking 15 wickets at an average of 20.46.
Another man to be ruled out of the Bangladesh tour is Durham paceman Mark Wood, who continues to struggle with problems with his left ankle.
Though Steven Finn has been drafted into the ODI squad as cover for him – Finn will be hoping for a return to form for England after an indifferent summer.
Replacing the leader of your attack is no easy feat, but Nottinghamshire’s Jake Ball has been brought into the test squad as cover.
Ball will be hoping to make more of an impact than he did on his Test debut versus Pakistan earlier this year where he only managed to pick up one wicket over the two innings.
Though Ball is a man in form having taken an impressive 49 Championship wickets at 23.12 each this season, in just 11 games, including a hattrick versus champions Middlesex.
But there is some Lancashire representation for England in the form of 19-year-old opener Haseeb Hameed who is in line to make his Test debut following Alex Hales’ withdrawal over security concerns.
Despite it being his first full season for Lancs, Hameed was ever-present in their County Championship side scoring 1198 runs at an average of just under 50, including four centuries.
It was these impressive stats, as well as his temperament and maturity at the crease which earnt Hameed a test call-up.
By Matt Bullin
@matt_bullin01
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