Alastair Cook and Steve Harmison want James Anderson recalled for day-night Adelaide Test

England's highest-ever wicket-taker was left out at The Gabba but should be an automatic pick for the pink ball match at the Adelaide Oval, starting on Thursday (December 16)

James Anderson could cause chaos with the pink ball and should be reinstated for next week's day-night Ashes Test in Adelaide against Australia, according to Alastair Cook and Steve Harmison.

Thirty-nine-year-old Anderson was left out of the nine-wicket defeat in the first Test at The Gabba with a minor calf complaint but is fit for the remainder of the series.

Stuart Broad was also omitted, as England went with an attack of Ollie Robinson, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, Ben Stokes and spinner Jack Leach.

The pink ball under lights will offer plenty of lateral movement and with the greatest swing bowler in history in their arsenal, a veteran of 632 Test wickets, Anderson's return should be a formality according to the Ashes winners.

^{Stuart Broad also had a watching brief in Adelaide (Patrick Hamilton/AFP/Getty Images)}

"The thing about the pink ball when the sun is out it doesn't move," Cook, part of the last England side to win the Ashes down under in 2010/11, told BT Sport.

"We're talking about this dusk period when the floodlights come on in around the middle session for an hour and a half if you get the new ball there it does all sorts. All the other times it is quite flat.

"The thing about the pink ball is it throws up different connotations which is exciting. 

"If England get really lucky at the right time and they get a new ball and James Anderson against the Australians say four or five down, you can get six or seven wickets very quickly."

"When the floodlights come on, for an hour and a half, it does all sorts"

James Anderson and Stuart Broad average 19 and 27 respectively in day/night Tests.

Who does England leave out for the pink-ball Test in Adelaide? 🤔#Ashes pic.twitter.com/XVPSr7Osqk

— Cricket on BT Sport (@btsportcricket) December 11, 2021

Harmison, who bowled England to victory in the 2005 Ashes, added: "The one thing I would say about James Anderson, if he got the ball at the right time he could win the game in a session. He could get four or five wickets for 20 runs and blow a team away because of his skill level.

"I don't want to drop Robinson. Wood gives me energy and agression. Woakes gives me batting. If Ollie Robinson can't play in five Test matches that would be the one I'd give him off but the way he is bowling at The Gabba I might have to leave Chris Woakes out."

In four previous day-night Tests, England have lost three - their only success coming on home soil against West Indies at Edgbaston in 2017.

That record includes losing the only Ashes Test played under lights during the 2017/18 tour when Australia prevailed by 120 runs at the Adelaide Oval - scene of the second Test which starts on Thursday (December 16).

^{Rory Burns is England 's only centurion in 2021, other than Joe Root (Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)}

The fifth Test, moved from Perth's Optus Stadium to the Belerive Oval in Hobart due to Covid restrictions, will also be a day-night affair.

Despite the bowling resources waiting in the wings, England's main concern remains in the batting department. Their first-innings 147 in Brisbane was the 10th time they've been bowled out for under 200 in 22 innings during 2021.

Harmison added: "You've got to be able to score runs. If you get first innings runs you control the game as a captain nd declare when the game is ready for your Anderson or Broad.

"One player other than Joe Root has got a hundred in 2021 (Rory Burns). That doesn't bode well for the rest of the series but trying to set a match up."

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