Just as I was busy tweeting people about my post, What causes more death than war?, @Ellaw638 informed me that James Anderson has broken his ribs. I freaked out a bit and wondered how it could have happened since England are on a break. How it happened? Well...on the boot camp in Germany. In my post The 'Secret' Bonding Camp I wrote that this wasn't the right time for a boot camp. After a long, tiring (both mentally and physically) controversial summer, the last English cricketers needed was boxing, hiking and abseiling. Jimmy hurt his ribs while boxing and is almost certain to miss the first 2 Tests. Yorkshire's Ajmal Shahzad, whom I reckon should have made to the team, is likely to replace Anderson. If Shahzad plays in any of the first 2 Tests and succeeds, England will have to choose between Anderson and the other bowlers who would play in the first 2 Tests. There have been quite a few times when someone, doing well in county cricket, was selected for England 16 member squad but didn't play any match. I hope they don't do that to Shahzad, he would be better off with the Performance squad, rather than sitting on the sidelines in Ashes. Swann, Broad, Finn will be the obvious choices for the 1st Test so England would have to choose between Bresnan, Tremlett and Shahzad. I so deeply hope they don't play Bresnan.

15:14 (BST)
Turns out that Jimmy Anderson might actually play the 1st Test and the injury is not as serious as it was reported to be. I thought it might prove to be a blessing in guise if Shahzad plays or England might lose/fail to win from a good position if Bresnan plays. I've always doubted Broad's ability to take wickets in Tests and although he has improved, I'm not too sure about him so I would go for Jimmy, Finn, Swann and Shahzad but England probably doesn't agree with me. Earlier today, newspapers and top sites like Dailymail reported that Anderson is almost certain to miss the first 2 Tests. Bizarre.

Until next time, take care. Cheers.

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