Anderson ruled out of the Durban Test

In a massive blow to England’s prospects, their all-time highest Test wicket taker and the spearhead of the bowling attack, James Anderson, has been ruled out of the first Test against South Africa to be held in Kingsmead, Durban on Boxing Day.

Anderson suffered a calf strain on Monday evening and underwent a scan to assess the problem on the next day. The results of the scan were revealed on Thursday after the ECB’s medical staff evaluated it and the strain was confirmed.

Thankfully for England It isn’t a serious injury and Anderson is likely to be fit for the second Test in Cape Town on January 2. The rest of the squad, including fast bowler Steven Finn, were declared fit for the game.

The most likely replacement for Anderson in the playing eleven seems to be Chris Woakes, who last played a Test for England in August 2014 against India. Woakes trained with the team on Tuesday, while other likely replacements – Chris Jordan and Mark Footitt trained in a separate group along with Gary Ballance.

England are touring South Africa for a full tour of 4 Tests, 5 ODIs, and 2 T20s, and began the tour on a positive note with a win against South Africa A in a three-day practice match at Pietermaritzburg on December 22.

Both the teams have suffered heavy losses on their preceding tours – both in Asia – as England went down to Pakistan 2-0 in a three-match Test series in the UAE while the Proteas lost the Freedom Trophy against India 3-0.

However, both sides had emerged victorious in their limited-overs endeavors, as England beat Pakistan 3-1 in a 4 match ODI series followed by a 3-0 victory in the T20I series, whereas South Africa won their ODI series against India 3-2, and the T20 series before that by a margin of two games to none.

AB de Villiers has been in sublime form for the home side, having hit three hundreds in the ODI series in India, on the back of a brilliant World Cup, while Joe Root holds the key with the bat for England, along with their all-time highest run-scorer in Tests, and the captain of the side, Alastair Cook.

Stuart Broad is expected to lead the bowling attack in Anderson’s absence while Dale Steyn has been declared fit for the series after suffering a groin strain during the first Test against India, that made him sit out of the rest of the tour.