LONDON: Veteran England pacer James Anderson on Tuesday, provided a much-anticipated update regarding his groin injury ahead of the one-off Test against Ireland and The Ashes following that.

The 40-year-old Anderson, the most successful fast bowler in Test history with 685 wickets, sustained the injury on Thursday’s opening day of Lancashire’s County Championship match against Somerset at Old Trafford and took no further part in a match that ended in a draw on Sunday.

James Anderson then underwent a scan on the injury on Saturday, with Lancashire coach Glen Chapple telling the BBC it was not “anything too serious”.

He was then named in England’s 15-member squad for the one-off Test against Ireland and has now allayed any concerns regarding his availability.

“I’m not worried about it,” James Anderson told the BBC’s Tailenders podcast.

“It’s obviously not great getting injured but it’s probably the best outcome for what it is, because it’s a low-grade thing and I think in a couple of weeks I’ll be back to full fitness,” he said.

“It’s frustrating because you always want to feel good and get enough bowling in before a series and you want to be fresh, so it’s now about trying to plan the best route through this summer.”

The 40-year-old, on the other hand, indicated that it wasn’t ideal because he needed some game time before the big summer. Although James Anderson is in the squad for the Ireland Test, he does not want to rush things because the Ashes are soon after.

“I felt like I needed to play this game so it’s not ideal, but I’m not stressed about it.

“I’m just taking it day by day and seeing how it goes because obviously I don’t want to risk anything by making it worse.

“I’m more confident I can get this one right [than in 2019] and give the Ashes a right good crack.”

It is worth mentioning here that England’s recently-announced squad for Ireland Test, marked the return of their aggressive wicket-keeper batter Jonathan Bairstow, who last played international cricket in September 2021, before a golf accident left him with a fractured leg and dislocated ankle.

SQUAD: Ben Stokes (c), James Anderson, Jonathan Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.

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