BIRMINGHAM: England face a conundrum on who to select in place of Jimmy Anderson next week after the swing bowler was ruled out due to a side strain for next week's Ashes match at his best Test ground: Trent Bridge in Nottingham.
The sight of Anderson trudging from Edgbaston late on day two with what was later confirmed it was a strain would have been galling for England powerbrokers and fans who know how valuable he is there, and welcomed by Australians for the same reason.
Anderson's record at Trent Bridge is the best of any venue, standing at 53 wickets at an average of 19.25. It is the site of the three best match hauls of his 107 Tests, one of which was his 10-158 against Australia in the 2013 Ashes.
If the Nottingham groundsmen produce a pitch conducive to fast-bowling, which is expected given the way England have exploited those conditions in Birmingham, Anderson would have been crucial to be able to demonstrate how to best to harness it against the batsmen of Australia, whose fragility against the moving ball has been entrenched this week.
After confirming on Thursday evening Anderson was suffering from side soreness, England on Friday morning confirmed he would be unavailable for at least the fourth Test due to the injury.
Anderson's teammate Steve Finn was unable to immediately elaborate on the condition of Anderson, who dejectedly put a towel over his face as he trudged from the field to applause from the spectators at Edgbaston, but conceded for the veteran to "walk off halfway through an over it cant be too good".
The fourth Test begins on Thursday. There is almost three weeks until the series-ending fifth Test at The Oval in London.
The necessary recovery period will depend on exactly what Anderson has hurt, and how badly. When Australia's James Faulkner suffered a side strain-type injury just before the World Cup - it was officially diagnosed as a moderate-grade abdominal strain - he did not play for almost five weeks, and that was considered to be an unusually quick recovery.
Finn lamented the prospect of England losing Anderson for the Test.
"Jimmy loves bowling at Trent Bridge, everyone knows that," Finn said after day two.
"He's a huge player for us. He's the leader of our attack. He sets the tone with everything he does and we've seen even when the ball was flying around a bit today he controlled the run rate, and the way he bowled in the first innings speaks for itself.
"If he was to miss it, it would be a big loss."
England selectors will have to decide whether to simply go to the next bowler in line in the pace pecking order - Mark Wood - or whether to look for a bowler whose style is more complementary to the role Anderson fills, which encompassed both new-ball wickets and stifling the scoring rate.
Wood was overlooked for Edgbaston because he had been struggling with an ankle injury. Bad weather in Birmingham prevented him from bowling outside on the day before the match and, in light of his struggles coping with successive first-class matches, he was withdrawn in favour of Finn.
In Wood's three county matches at Trent Bridge, most recently in 2013, he has taken 15 wickets at 22.53.
While he demonstrated a capacity early in the Ashes series, particularly in Cardiff, to trouble the Australians with pace he claimed only one wicket in 38 overs at Lord's.
The player likely to feature highly in selectors' thoughts, as an alternative to Wood, is Chris Woakes. All but four of the 26-year-old's 44 international appearances have come in limited-overs, yet he was invited to train with the squad in preparation for the Edgbaston Test.
The main factor in Woakes' favour is that he would be a more like-for-like replacement for Anderson, because he poses threats with movement more than pace. One thing not in his favour is that, since the World Cup, he has been troubled by foot and knee injuries and has only played two first-class matches this season.
Former England coach David "Bumble" Lloyd, now a renowned TV commentator, strongly advocated the like-for-like approach if selectors had to settle on a replacement for Anderson.
Anderson doubt ..you replace like for like .trust me .been my profession for 50 yrs ..Woakes, Rushworth, Brooks ...Chapple if 10 yrs younger— David 'Bumble' Lloyd (@BumbleCricket) July 30, 2015
An outsider in the race to replace Anderson could be left-armer Mark Footitt. The 29-year-old is uncapped at international level, yet has pushed him claims at county level this season with 50 wickets at 23.64. He was left out by Derbyshire for last weekend's tour match against Australia.
Australia opener David Warner said after day two that Anderson, the bowler who removed him early in the first innings, would be a "big loss" for England if he was - as he now has been - ruled out of the next Test. Nevertheless, he said the performance of Finn in Birmingham and the fact Wood is awaiting his return underlined the "bowling stocks" of the hosts.
"We've got to worry about scoring runs," Warner said. "What happens in their camp is in their camp."
