Harris: England will miss Anderson at Trent Bridge

Australia

Former Australia fast bowler Ryan Harris feels England will miss the presence of seamer James Anderson in the fourth Ashes Test, starting at Trent Bridge on Thursday.

Anderson, who has more than 400 wickets in Test cricket, will not play in the Nottingham match because he picked up a side strain in the third Test at Edgbaston.

With England two-one up in the five-match series, Harris believes Australia can take advantage of the fact that England's leading bowler will not be playing.

The right-arm paceman Mark Wood is likely to replace Anderson in the Three Lions' starting team.

Harris wrote in his Fairfax column: "Not having him in their team is a bonus for us, for Australia. He's the leader of their attack, the guy who can come out and rip through a batting order, as he did in Birmingham, or he can tie you down by bowling dot after dot.

"His absence is going to be especially big because it is at Nottingham. The last time we were at Nottingham it was a flat wicket that offered reverse swing, and he's very good at that, very dangerous.

"Mark Wood, who will probably replace him because he is next in line, bowled reasonably well in Cardiff and he can do a job, Stuart Broad has been in and around, and Steve Finn came back and bowled very well.

"But Finn and Wood – and even Broad, the way he's gone – can be got at. They're going to miss Jimmy's consistency."

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