By Andrew Wu
Derby: Australia's dominance over England's top order is set to force the home side into a batting reshuffle for the fourth Test as James Anderson exits the Ashes stage – and possibly Test cricket altogether.
Anderson's absence from the final two games of this year's series after a third calf injury in less than two months may prove a blow and a blessing for the visiting team.
James Anderson has been ruled out of the Ashes.Credit: PA
The Australian camp is due to arrive in Manchester on Saturday night after the completion of a three-day tour game against Derbyshire.
Steve Smith, who wore stem guards, emerged unscathed in his first innings since being concussed, though he achieved little else against a second division county attack that was classed below what he will face next week.
Marcus Harris and Usman Khawaja made half-centuries, but one of them will make way for Smith, though the modest opposition meant selectors had little meaningful new evidence to consider.
Steve Smith was given throw-downs by David Warner in an impromptu net session.Credit: Getty Images Europe
Anderson, England's all-time leading Test wicket-taker, has been a tormentor of Australian sides in this country the past decade and a major reason why the men in the baggy green have not taken the urn back home from these shores for 18 years.
The Anderson of 2019 remains as skillful as that of previous series, but he can no longer be counted on to stay on the park for long enough to make a difference.
Had he not broken down on Thursday in a second XI game for Lancashire that was scheduled solely for him to prove his fitness, he may have done so during play at Old Trafford, as was the case in the first Test when he came to grief after bowling just four overs.
Australia benefited from England effectively playing with 10 men at Edgbaston, careering away in the final two days for their only win this series.
There were suspicions even then Anderson's Ashes campaign was over. Calf injuries are notoriously difficult to overcome, even more so at the age of 37.
The veteran swing bowler was able to get through 20 overs in the first innings on Tuesday, but backing up two days later, as he would be required to in a Test, was asking too much.
"Anderson became aware of right calf pain following on from 20 overs he had bowled on Tuesday," an England and Wales Cricket Board statement said.
"He immediately sought a medical assessment from Lancashire and was withdrawn from the remainder of the game.
"Further review with the ECB medical team has confirmed that he will be unavailable for the remaining two Ashes Tests."
With the next Ashes series not until 2021-22, when he will be 39, it's likely Australia's batsmen have seen the last of Anderson.
Giant seamer Craig Overton was added to a 13-man squad announced on Friday in England's only change.
The Australian bowlers will not be unhappy to see beleaguered batsman Jason Roy still in the fold after reducing their World Cup destroyer to a walking wicket in the first three Tests.
Roy has managed only 57 runs in six innings this series, though a shift down to No.4 has been mooted in the English press a bid to give the hard-hitting batsman his best chance to transfer his dynamic white-ball form into the Test arena.
England coach Trevor Bayliss is an advocate for Roy to bat in the middle order, but captain Joe Root wants him to bat in the same position where he has dominated in the shorter forms.
Joe Denly, another batsman Australia have the wood over despite his brave half-century at Headingley, is poised to move from second drop to open with Rory Burns.
Burns, too, has struggled since his dogged century in the first Test He looks particularly vulnerable to the short ball and can expect a bumper barrage from Australia's fast men.