Ashes 2019: Pat Cummins says James Anderson injury a massive loss for England

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  • England's James Anderson.

    Pat Cummins believes James Anderson will be a “massive loss” for England in the second Ashes Test and says Australia are well prepared to deal with his replacement Jofra Archer at Lord’s.

    Anderson has been sidelined by a calf injury, with his return date unclear, after he managed only four overs of the opening Test at Edgbaston before Australia went on to run by 251 runs.

    “It’s unfortunate for them that he went down early in the first game, it’s no secret that he is a massive loss” said Cummins, who last week became the second fastest Australian to 100 Test wickets as he reached the mark in his 21st outing.

    “He’s been their highest wicket-taker and is arguably the best bowler in the last few Ashes series.

    “As soon as he went down I felt like there was a real opportunity in the second innings to try and get some overs into their bowlers and bat well – luckily we did.”

    Anderson’s absence opens the door for Archer just a month after he bowled the dramatic Super Over in the World Cup final win over New Zealand.

    “Some of the boys have played against Jofra at the World Cup or with him in the IPL or Big Bash League, so he is not an unknown,” Cummins said.

    “We’ll do our homework but we’ve all faced him.”

    Archer is not the only new face in the England attack with Jack Leach replacing Moeen Ali after the latter had a disappointing match in Birmingham.

    Asked if Australia had forced England into a re-think of their strategy, Cummins said: “It might seem like a big call but Leach had a good game only a couple of weeks ago.

    “We’ll just keep doing our thing. The good thing is we have a full squad to pick from. The unfortunate guys who had missed out on the bench have done well in the warm-up games.

    “Whoever is the 11 that comes at us doesn’t really bother us too much.”

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