Loss of Anderson a game-changer, says Harris

Retired paceman Ryan Harris believes the absence of James Anderson will be “huge” as England look to regain the Ashes in the fourth Test in Nottingham, beginning Thursday.

Anderson, a veteran of 107 Tests with 413 wickets to his name, has missed just eight Tests in the past eight years, of which England have won just two – both against Bangladesh.

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The 33-year-old was in devastating form in the third Test in Birmingham, taking six wickets in the first innings before suffering a side strain late in the second, and was looming as Australia’s greatest threat at Trent Bridge, where his formidable record reads eight Tests, 53 wickets at 19, before he was forced to pull out.

“Not having him in their team is a bonus for us, for Australia,” Harris wrote in his Fairfax column.

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“It's going to be huge. He's the leader of their attack, the guy who can come out and rip through a batting order, as he did in Birmingham, or he can tie you down by bowling dot after dot.

“His absence is going to be especially big because it is at Nottingham. The last time we were at Nottingham it was a flat wicket that offered reverse swing, and he's very good at that, very dangerous.”

The significance of Anderson's absence

Harris said the remainder of England’s pace battery – Stuart Broad, Steve Finn and likely Mark Wood if he is deemed to have recovered sufficiently from an ankle injury – can be “got at” by Australia’s batsmen.

“Mark Wood, who will probably replace him because he is next in line, bowled reasonably well in Cardiff and he can do a job, Stuart Broad has been in and around, and Steve Finn came back and bowled very well,” he wrote.

“But Finn and Wood – and even Broad, the way he's gone – can be got at. They're going to miss Jimmy's consistency.

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“The thing for the Australian batters is being able to put the pressure back on their bowling attack, one missing Anderson, the one who can dictate and bowl dots and maidens.

“Getting at them doesn't necessarily mean going after them, coming straight out and hitting over the top.

“It's more so about keeping them out for long enough, and frustrating them by rotating the strike and not letting them get comfortable, that you can profit from the bad balls when they come.”

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Harris’s comments follow similar optimism from Australia captain Michael Clarke, who compared Anderson’s withdrawal with that of Glenn McGrath in the 2005 Ashes, which effectively swung the series England’s way.

“I guess we experienced (disruption) in losing Ryan Harris before a ball was bowled this series, and now Jimmy Anderson is certainly out of this Test match, and who knows if he’ll be fit for the last one as well?” Clarke told Melbourne’s Triple M.

“As much as you don’t wish injury on anyone, I hope it can play a part like in 2005 when we lost Glenn McGrath.

“Hopefully we can take a bit of confidence knowing that someone who, I think he averages 19 (as a bowler) at this ground in Nottingham, is unavailable for selection.

“I think we can take a lot of positives from that.”

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