England's James Anderson still confident of playing in Ashes despite injury; Olly Stone sidelined

The 37-year-old bowled only four overs at Edgbaston before a calf injury forced him off the field, limiting him to two brief appearances as a batsman, and has already been ruled out of the second Test.

Admitting he "felt very guilty" and apologised to his team-mates, Anderson told the Sun: "It's hard to say when I might play again but it won't be for a while.

"My focus now is to get better and try everything possible to play a role later in the series. I'm sure there will come a point where other bowlers either get injured or need a rest.

"I certainly have no intention of giving up. If I don't play against Australia, then the winter tours to New Zealand and South Africa are the next target."

Anderson, England's record wicket-taker with 575 in Tests, was selected for the series opener despite not having featured for Lancashire since he first suffered the injury against Durham in early July.

That situation will not be repeated - raising the prospect of Anderson emulating Jofra Archer by playing a second XI game for his county.

Archer took six for 27 and hit 108 for Sussex's second string against Gloucestershire on Tuesday to stake his claim as Anderson's deputy in the second Test at Lord's.

Anderson said: "The England management want me to play some cricket before I return for a Test match. So I'll have to schedule that as well, which is not so easy because it is mainly Twenty20 matches at the moment."

Stone sidelined

Pace bowler Olly Stone will miss the second Ashes Test after being ruled out for at least a fortnight with a back injury.

Stone, who suffered the injury in training on Tuesday, joins fellow pacemen James Anderson and Mark Wood in being ruled out of the Lord's Test.

Warwickshire sport director Paul Farbrace told the county's website: "It's really disappointing for Olly that he's been ruled out of action for such an important two weeks of cricket because of a reoccurrence of his back injury.

"At the moment there's a bit of inflammation, but he will undergo a scan later this afternoon so that we know the full course of treatment that he can undertake with the club's medical team and with the support of the ECB.

"In the meantime, he needs to rest up before he can get his body strong again and ready to deal with the demands of being a fast bowler."

Stone, 25, made his Test debut against Ireland last month and was in the squad for the first Test at his home ground Edgbaston, but did not play in the heavy defeat by Australia.

He would have been back in contention at Lord's, with Anderson ruled out until at least the fourth Test.

The third Ashes Test at Headingley begins on August 22, making Stone's availability for that match highly unlikely.

Jofra Archer, another fast bowler with fitness issues, took six wickets and hit a century for Sussex's second XI on Tuesday to press his case for an Ashes spot.

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