England red-ball head coach Brendon McCullum confirmed that pacers James Anderson and Ollie Robinson will be missing the upcoming one-off Test against Ireland, which is slated to begin on June 1 at Lord’s. Notably, Robinson was experiencing irritation in his Achilles Tendon during Sussex’s Championship match against Glamorgan last week while the veteran pacer Anderson strained his groin and even though he is currently training, the cricketer will be missing the Ireland Test in order to keep himself fresh for Ashes 2023.
Meanwhile, England skipper Ben Stokes too was dealing with a knee injury while playing for Chennai Super Kings in the IPL 2023. Speaking about the same, McCullum clarified that the all-rounder is progressing well and the team management will keep an eye on what happens next. However, there’s a sense of expectation that the cricketer will play in the match against the Andrew Balbirne-led side.
“For the first Ashes Test, I think (Anderson and Robinson) should be fit. They won’t be fit for this one against Ireland. We’ll just have to monitor it over this next sort of while, but we’ve got some great options right throughout the squad. Stokesy (Ben Stokes) is progressing well too,” McCullum stated while talking to SkySports.
“He looks really fit as well, looks in great order and has a big smile on his face. He is delighted to be back around the group and as our leader, having that sort of energy he brings is fantastic, so again we’ll monitor that and see what happens. I think he’ll bowl at some stage throughout the summer, yeah, no doubt. He is a world-class allrounder and if he is able to bowl, fantastic. If not, we’ll find a way,” he added.
Notably, under McCullum and Stokes, England have revolutionised Test cricket by playing in an aggressive manner. They have had enough success in the past year, defeating the likes of Pakistan, New Zealand and South Africa and now their main goal will be to win the Ashes and get back the urn.