The thought of facing Jimmy Anderson in a County Championship game, or any game in any format for that matter, at the start of April is riddled with utter trepidation. So does it come as a surprise that Alastair Cook has decided to sidestep that particular duel in order to recover from a hip problem that has been troubling him for around a month ?
Of course I'm not suggesting for one minute that Cook has sat this game out for fear of becoming one of many early season batsmen to be completely perplexed by the bananas inevitably being thrown down by England's premier swing bowler. Although it is such a shame that we have to miss out on what would be a titanic battle between two masters of their art doing battle in the environment of a County Championship opener. Talk about a welcome return for county cricket.
It was an unfair contest to expect Cambridge's batsmen, however talented, cope with the examination bestowed upon them from Anderson, who returned match figures of 16-7-15-6 in the recent warm-up fixture. A sterner test will await at Chelmsford for Anderson, but the presence of Cook would have taken the stakes higher.
Instead Cook will hope to return on April 14 at Taunton against a Somerset side hoping to go even better than last year's excellent tilt at that elusive Championship title. Taunton was prepared to assist spin last season, a decision that worked very well, but perhaps being so early in the season this may hinder that particular option with the pitches unlikely to crumble sufficiently unless we have a more than tropical period of weather.
Either way, it should be a more gentle return for Cook, but this week will be a huge challenge for his Essex teammates and this may tell us a bit more about certain Test hopefuls such as Nick Browne, Tom Wesley and slightly further down the line, the impressive Daniel Lawrence.
