James Anderson will miss Lancashire’s County Championship fixture against Sussex this week as he continues to manage a minor calf injury.England have been managing the workloads of their centrally contracted players carefully – and their bowlers in particular – at the start of the county season. Anderson was due to play his first game of the summer against Kent last week, but was ruled out with a tight calf, and has been monitored by England and Lancashire physios throughout the past few weeks.It is expected that he will be available for the fixture against Glamorgan next week, but he is unlikely to play more than two games before England’s first Test of the summer, against New Zealand at Lord’s on June 2.Related
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Lancashire will be boosted by the return of Liam Livingstone, who will play his first game of the County Championship season after withdrawing from the IPL, citing bubble fatigue. Livingstone returned to the UK just before India was added to the travel red list, meaning he was able to quarantine at home rather than in a designated hotel.Sussex, their opponents, have rested Ollie Robinson, the country’s leading wicket-taker. “He’s bowled magnificently, but his workload has been huge and we can’t afford to risk him breaking down,” Ian Salisbury, their head coach, said. “There’s a lot expected of him – not just with the ball, but with the bat, in the field and as vice-captain – but he’s not a bowling machine you can just plug in. He’s a human being and he’s due a rest.”Elsewhere, Mark Wood will make his first appearance of the County Championship season for Durham against Warwickshire this week, while Stuart Broad has been named in the Nottinghamshire squad for their away fixture against Derbyshire to play what will be his second game of the summer.
Joe Root has been rested for the first time this season for Yorkshire’s fixture against Northamptonshire, while Dom Sibley continues to be sidelined by a finger injury and his Warwickshire team-mate, Olly Stone, will be rested this week. Jofra Archer has been bowling in the nets at Hove, and could return to second XI cricket on May 4 when Sussex play against Surrey.Jake Ball, meanwhile, faces an extended spell on the sidelines with a back injury. Ball was involved with England squads for the first time since 2018 over the winter, travelling to South Africa and India as a white-ball reserve after topping the wicket charts in last summer’s T20 Blast, but felt soreness in his back during the winter and had to leave the field in Nottinghamshire’s Championship opener after another flare-up.Peter Moores, Notts’ head coach, said: “We’ll continue to assess his fitness and we’ll rule nothing in or out at this stage, but we’re expecting him to be missing for a number of games.”
