England pace bowler James Anderson defended his decision to play in the first Ashes Test match against Australia at Edgbaston last week, although he only managed to bowl four overs in the game.
“I missed the Ireland Test as a precaution to make sure I was 100 per cent for the Ashes,” the 37-year-old was quoted as saying by the BBC.
“I felt angry having done all the work to get there,” he added.
England’s record Test wicket-taker did not bowl again as Australia went on to win by 251 runs. Anderson will be “reassessed on an ongoing basis” but is out of the second Test at Lord’s, which starts on Wednesday.
“All the tests they do on the calf to see if it’s OK, it just wasn’t playing ball so it was hugely frustrating,” Anderson said on BBC Radio 5 Live.
“It settled down a bit when we were batting and I was planning on bowling in the second innings, but when I was batting I pushed off for a run and it didn’t feel right.”
He added: “There’s nothing else we could have done. I did all the rehab – the only thing I didn’t do was play a match but there’s Twenty20 going on at the minute and there’s no games to play.
“I’m sure if I do manage to come back in this series then I’ll have to play some sort of cricket beforehand.
“You feel lots of guilt (and you are) generally frustrated but you’re trying to help out the lads as much as possible without making them feel worse,” the paceman added.
