AUS vs ENG: James Anderson To Replace Ollie Robinson In England XI At Old Trafford - Reports

Published - 16 Jul 2023, 11:13 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:15 AM

James Anderson and Ollie Robinson (Credits: Twitter)

The 40-year-old speedster James Anderson is all set to return to the England National Cricket Team playing XI for the fourth Test of the ongoing Ashes 2023 series, according to the reports in The Guardian.

The fourth Test between Ben Stokes-led England and Pat Cummins-led Australia will be played from July 19 to 23. The match is set to be held at Old Trafford, Manchester. Australia have a 2-1 lead in the series heading into the game.

The crucial fourth Ashes Test will provide the England bowling great Anderson to play in front of his Lancashire home crowd and bowl from the end named in his honour for the one last time.

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Anderson started for England in the first two Ashes 2023 Tests, but he failed to impress. At Lord’s, he registered figures of 1/53 & 1/64 and at Edgbaston, he had the figures of 1/53 & 0/56. England decided to rest the veteran pacer for the third Test at Headingley and brought Mark Wood into the playing XI, who ended up delivering a Player of the Match performance.

James Anderson “All But Certain” To Play Manchester Test

According to The Guardian sources, James Anderson is “all but certain” to play in the fourth Test. And he is likely to replace pacer Ollie Robinson in the playing XI.

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Notably, Ollie Robinson had suffered back spasms during the third Test and was able to bowl in just one innings while going wicketless. In his column for Wisden, he declared himself 100% fit to play, but still, he is likely to be dropped.

Stuart Broad has also backed his bowling partner to Anderson deliver a big performance in the high-pressure game.

“At Lord’s, we had six of the best bowlers in the world bowling cross-seam bouncers, which tells you all you need to know about what the pitch was offering from a good length,” Broad wrote in the Mail on Sunday.

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“But Jimmy has been one of the world’s best bowlers for a long time and he can put those issues behind him. He’s bowled goodness knows how many overs at Old Trafford and I’m expecting a big performance from him in a high-pressure game.”