England have announced a 13-man squad for the fourth Ashes Test, excluding pacer James Anderson, who has been ruled out of the remainder of the series.
Craig Overton, who played the last of his three Tests in March 2018, has been added to the squad for the Old Trafford Test, which starts on 4 September.
Anderson has been ruled out after failing to recover from the calf injury that kept him out of the second and third Tests. He was charting his road to recovery, but suffered another setback on Thursday, when he had to pull out of the game while representing Lancashire’s 2nd XI. Playing against Durham, Anderson bowled 20 overs without any apparent discomfort, but nine overs into his spell on Thursday, he reported calf pain and had to seek medical attention.
Anderson managed to bowl only four overs in the opening Test at Edgbaston before he hobbled out of the field due to a calf injury. Anderson had initially suffered a muscle tear ahead of the Ashes in July, while playing for Lancashire, but recovered in time to be included for the first Ashes game.
Overton, the 25-year-old pacer, is currently Somerset’s second-highest wicket-taker in the County Championship, snaring 32 wickets from eight games at 21.34. Having debuted in the 2017 Ashes Test at Adelaide, Overton has, thus far, played three Tests and picked up seven wickets, the last of the Tests being against New Zealand.
The series is currently levelled at 1-1, after England’s sensational one-wicket win in the previous game at Headingley.
Squad: Joe Root (c), Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Joe Denly, Jack Leach, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Craig Overton, Jason Roy.
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