South Africa vs England: Jimmy Anderson calf injury scare spoils England's stroll

It was all going so well. Perhaps too well. For three days, England gave what was purportedly the second best team in South Africa the run around.

They applied the finishing touches by taking the eight wickets they needed before lunch and winning by an innings and 91 runs, with their spinner Moeen Ali taking 6 for 77.

What better way could there be to prepare for playing the world’s best Test team in a four-match series starting in Durban on Saturday? And then came news to unsteady a ship sailing in serene waters. Jimmy Anderson is injured – again.

He has a minor calf niggle which has affected him from the start of the tour and has now required a hospital scan to check its worthiness for the big opening match.

Anderson, the leader of the attack, who pretty much monitors himself, has bowled only a handful of overs in the middle on this trip. There have been many more in the nets but he felt sufficiently concerned to ask for further investigation.

England would not relish starting the series without the country’s leading Test wicket-taker but their selection may be complicated by the fact that there are only two days between the first match in Durban and the second in Cape Town, with one of them being used for travelling. Neither the bowler nor the team management will take any chances on aggravating an injury which might seriously affect the rest of his tour. If anything, they are likely to err on the side of caution.

They won the Ashes without Anderson at Trent Bridge last year, when Stuart Broad stunned Australia with an impeccable display of fast bowling that yielded figures of 8 for 15. But then England lost the final match at The Oval when Anderson was again missing.

It may be that England’s medical team are merely being careful but it is easy to speculate that Anderson’s 33-year-old body is simply more susceptible to the strains and stresses that afflict all bowlers.

Were he not to make the side at Kingsmead – and while England did not seem unduly alarmed, that might or might not have been because they were playing a measured hand – Broad’s support would almost certainly be Steve Finn and Chris Woakes. If Anderson makes it, then Finn has probably done enough in the past three days to be chosen ahead of Woakes, who could consider himself unfortunate.

It was Moeen who ran through the South Africa A middle and late order yesterday. The third-day pitch offered some turn but his return will only reinforce the perception that in South Africa the batsmen cannot play spin because they never play much of it of high standard.

Moeen won three lbw verdicts in five overs but still could not prevent some of the late order coming at him and he conceded more than five runs an over. He is acute enough to recognise that he still has shortcomings as a spinner as he outlined his probable strategy for the Test series.

“If it spins, I’ll try and keep it as simple as I can... and if it’s not spinning, try and hold up an end,” he said. “I don’t do that very well but it’s something I’ve been working on since I’ve been here and, hopefully, I can do that.

“I’ve worked on my action a little bit to make it consistent. In the last couple of years I’ve changed my action quite a bit. I was always searching but I feel like I’ve found something that helps me now. I’ve bowled a lot more lately as well, more than I have done in the past.”

The day started as it went on. Mark Footitt, who has bowled 23 overs in the two practice games, more than any of the other fast bowlers, removed Marchant de Lange with the first ball of the day, a rising delivery that the nightwatchman could only turn directly to short leg.

There followed some token resistance from Rilee Roussow and Quinton de Kock but they were flattering to deceive. Both were lbw to Moeen, who enjoyed spinning the ball, and despite the late, unfettered hitting, it was all a formality afterwards.