England captain Joe Root confirmed that their record Test-wicket taker James Anderson will miss the match against Ireland to give him time to be “one hundred percent fit” for the Ashes series with Australia.
Anderson remains sidelined by a calf injury suffered while playing for Lancashire and will continue to be monitored ahead of The Ashes.
“Jimmy (James Anderson) probably would have been able to get through this Test (against Ireland). But we are just making sure that he is absolutely ready,” said Test skipper Root.
“The last thing you want is him carrying a niggle going into a series. So we have tried to be sensible about it and make sure that we give him as much time to be hundred percent fit going into that series, a five-match series (against Australia, the Ashes).
“So we are very confident that he will be fit.”
Jason Roy and Olly Stone will make their England Test debuts against Ireland, which gets under way at Lord’s on Wednesday.
