England's James Anderson rested for West Indies match

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James Anderson

England have opted to rest seamer James Anderson for the third and final Test against West Indies at Edgbaston, which starts on Thursday.

England lead the series 2-0 and have opted to give Anderson a break with the Tests against South Africa to come.

Anderson has missed only one of England's previous 25 Tests but suffered a slight quad problem in the second Test.

It means Steven Finn or Graham Onions will come in.

Anderson took six wickets in England's nine-wicket win at Trent Bridge, which clinched the series.

The home side's batting line-up will remain unaltered, despite Jonny Bairstow's problems against the short ball at Trent Bridge.

Bairstow's main tormentor, West Indies fast bowler Kemar Roach, has been ruled out of the rest of the tour with a shin injury.

"We have been made to work hard for our two victories so far and are delighted to have secured the series," said national selector Geoff Miller.

"However, we know that we will need to continue to play some good cricket if we want a third win against West Indies this week.

"James Anderson will miss this Test as we look to manage his workload ahead of a busy period of cricket this summer and beyond, a decision which is in the best interests of the team and the player himself."

Anderson, who insisted he is fully fit, earlier told the Mail on Sundayexternal-link that he would not be happy to be left out of the squad.

"It would be extremely disappointing for me to miss out," he said.

"It would be different if I felt fatigued or was struggling with an injury. But I believe I am fit to play - and while I am fit to play I want to play in every England game I can.

"Resting players is going to happen more and more often as the schedule gets busier and the ECB has been excellent at monitoring players to keep them fit and ready.

"Sure, this series has been hard work - back-to-back Tests always are; that's what we are used to and have to deal with the world over. But five days of rest is more than enough to be ready to play again."

After the third Test, England play three one-day internationals and a Twenty20 against West Indies before 5 ODIs against Australia with the first of three Tests against South Africa then starting on 19 July.

England Test squad to face West Indies: Andrew Strauss (Middlesex, capt), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire), Ian Bell (Warwickshire), Tim Bresnan (Yorkshire), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Alastair Cook (Essex), Steven Finn (Middlesex), Graham Onions (Durham), Kevin Pietersen (Surrey), Matt Prior (Sussex, wk), Graeme Swann (Nottinghamshire), Jonathan Trott (Warwickshire)

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  • Play 5 bowlers in every test and you reduce all of their workloads - England have a wk and 3 bowlers who can bat so why they need a 6th batsman and only 4 bowlers is beyond me.

    Think how good the attack would be if Anderson / Broad / Bresnan knew they would be bowling 5/6 overs less each day and they could really steam in.

  • I would play both Finn and Onions and also rest Broad, if Tremlett was fit I would have replaced all 3 quicks from the first 2 tests - this attack would still have enough to beat WI

  • They've rested the wrong man. Jimmy will get his rest when we get to the one-dayers anyway. If they were going to rest anyone logically it should have been Stuart Broad, who will play in the ODIs, and who tends to be more injury-prone than Jimmy anyway.

  • #23 No1 Jimmy Anderson is NOT 31 now, he is 29 (30 at the end of this month) and No 2 he is not going to be picked for the T20s and ODIs, while Broad will play them all (provided he is fit - ironically he is the one with a recent history of niggling injuries) Flower has an issue with Anderson, I'm convinced of it.

  • England need to be careful not to reap some of the bitter fruits of the Oz experience: a great team that grow old together. England must blood the likes of Compton, Taylor, Finn, Woakes or face problems in the future. Take a leaf out of Bill Shankly's book, constantly replace the limbs of the team with new limbs, and stay at the top.

  • It's great that we have this strength in depth of world class fast bowlers- Finn, Onions, Tremlett, Bresnan and others who I can't remember- the only thing that's missing from the bowling department is a spinner who could push Swanny (although Panesar/Patel are OK replacements if we ever lose Swann), we now have a bowling unit that will take 20 wickets, even if the top bowlers are rested/injured!!

  • We do need to rotate this squad. Remember, Jimmy is 31 now, and was seeing the physio a lot last test match. If we give people like Finn caps now, then it becomes easier to integrate them in to a full time team member in the future. We don't want to have a situation where half the team retires after the 2013 ashes, and the rerplacements have 5 caps between them. Test match experience is vital!

  • Re: 16 - It's actually not all about you... At least I don't think it is.

  • I have tickets for Thursday and would have liked to see Jimmy bowl.
    But I think they are right to rest him, he had the physio on all through the last test and clearly was not 100%.
    I also rate Finn and look forward to him getting extra bounce from the Edgbaston pitch.

  • I would love to see us try out a 5 man bowling attack, purely because then we could see a pace attack of Anderson, Broad, Bresnan and Tremlett which reminds me of the hayday of West Indian fast bowling. We wouldn't have to drop Swann either, which is obviously very important.

  • I've got to say I think this is a mistake. Anderson isn't much good in ODIs so he should play this Edgbaston test then rest as much as he likes (the odd game for Lancs if he needs to) before the serious business of beating South Africa. I don't mind the rotation - but rest him in ODIs, not tests.

    There's a huge window between this and the next test - why not use it?

  • resting broad as well might be a step too far. good to show some flexibility but don't want to unsettle a team too much.

    Having said that how about this for the 3rd test.
    Rest Jimmy and Prior!

    Strauss
    Cook
    Trott
    KP
    Bell
    Bairstow as WK
    Bresnan
    Broad
    Swann
    Finn
    Onions

    why not? play em both (finn and onions) and experiment with 5 bowlers before SA. I think this team would still beat West Indies.

  • As the comments are pretty evenly divided for and against I reckon the selectors have it just about right!

  • Sensible decision, but a very tough call for the selectors over the replacement. Graeme Onions is the man in form. He is carrying the Durham attack and taking a lot of wickets. Steve Finn though is the man for the future and probably the fastest bowler in the squad. I suspect that Steve Finn, who has not taken an eye-catching wicket haul yet, may miss out yet again.

  • Sensible decision by the ECB. Considering we have such strength in bowling depth, this test gives a chance for Finn and Onions to prove themselves whilst allowing a well-deserved rest. I doubt the quality of cricket will suffer too greatly either.

  • @71

    I'd rather Anderson gets remembered for a 5 wicket haul in one match against South Africa than a 20 wicket haul against the West Indies in a series we've already won.

  • 66.shopkeeper_BFC - "....it is always the bowlers that get rested....we do not know which batsmen would be able to do the same. The argument seems
    to be do not leave batsmen out when they are in form.
    Discuss!"

    Easy, fast bowlers have a much higher physical workload than batsmen & batsmen are more likely than bowlers to need constant game time to "get their eye in" & stay on top form.

  • It makes complete sense to give one of the reserve bowlers a run out in case they are needed against SA - Jimmy Anderson is better able to bowl well with fewer overs in him, whereas Stuart Broad is a rhythum bowler who needs the miles in his legs.

    Test match cricket is about more than just the next game, important as that is.....

  • Thought Bairstow was a strange choice in the first place. I'm sure he'll be another one of many England talents in the future but it feels like he jumped the queue a little. Players like Taylor, Compton and Hildreth look like players who can bat all day whereas Bairstow still looks like a one day player. Great promise, but there are other players who suit what England need right at this moment.

  • Bopara is not a good international batsman, please don't mention him in the test format.

    Pietersen is Pietersen. Frankly, I don't care about 20/20 or 50 over cricket as long as he stays with the test team.

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