Legendary England pacer James Anderson picks up ‘minor injury’ ahead of Ashes 2023

Ahead of the Ashes 2023, star England pacer James Anderson picked up a minor injury while playing for Lancashire in the match against Somerset in the ongoing County Championship. Notably, the veteran pacer was in outstanding form on Day 1 of the match but on the morning of Day 2, he picked up an injury, which Lancashire later confirmed but didn’t disclose the nature of it.

A spokesperson of the club later clarified that the 40-year-old is currently being monitored as nothing is confirmed regarding his return back to the field. Pacers Jofra Archer and Olly Stone are already suffering from their respective injuries and thus, there are a lot of concerns in the England team ahead of the marquee tournament. 

“Jimmy is off the field with a minor issue, which is currently being assessed,” the spokesperson told as quoted by Daily Mail.

Notably, Archer recently went back to England after playing only five matches for Mumbai Indians in the ongoing IPL 2023. The pacer was reportedly facing some issues and thus, in order to keep himself fit for the upcoming Ashes and ODI World Cup, Archer decided to return back. Stones, on the other hand, may remain on the sidelines for several weeks after injuring his hamstring while playing for Nottinghamshire.

The Ashes Test series between England and Australia is to begin on June 16

With over a month left for the series to begin, England are hopeful that the pair of Jofra Archer and Jimmy Anderson will be fit enough to play in the first Test. However, the same cannot be said for Olly Stone as he is very likely to miss one, if not the first two matches. 

When it comes to Australia, some of their key players in the form of Steve Smith, Marnus Labhuschagne and Marcus Harris are already in the United Kingdom, to get adjusted to the conditions and prepare themselves well. All of their other teammates will be joining by the end of May but even so, the visiting team will not be playing a single tour game in a rather surprising move. However, they will take on India on June 7, in the World Test Championship finale.