James Anderson: Lancashire unsure if captain will play at Durham

Anderson opened the season with a five-wicket haul at Northamptonshire and then produced a match-winning spell of 4-18 as Lancashire successfully defended a target of 138 at home to Derbyshire last week.

At Gloucestershire, he broke the game open in the third innings on Sunday, with three wickets in four balls as the hosts slipped from 294-5 to 297-8 to ensure Lancashire could successfully chase down 202.

Those results have taken the Red Rose to the top, above Durham, whom they face at the Riverside in the next round of games.

With a week off after this fixture, Croft and his captain will have to weigh up the merits of whether to push Anderson into a fourth successive game.

“The performance he’s not just put in on Sunday, but in the whole season so far, a 21-year-old would be feeling it,” said Croft.

“Hopefully he can be fit, but we’ll just have to assess in the next few days.”

Two players definitely not heading to Durham will be opener Luke Wells, who dislocated his shoulder, and fast bowler Ajeet Singh Dale, who picked up a hamstring injury, both during the game at Bristol.