It’s been revealed England fast bowler James Anderson played most of the recent Commonwealth Bank Ashes series with a broken rib.

The England camp managed to keep the injury from the public during Australia’s 5-0 demolition job on the visitors, but the Daily Mail reports Anderson hasn’t been able to bowl in the six weeks since returning home.

The newspaper says Anderson sustained the injury when he was hit by a Peter Siddle short ball in the second Test in Adelaide (watch the delivery above, story continues below image).

“It was suspected that it was broken straight away but it wasn’t confirmed until ahead of the fourth Test in Melbourne when it was decided to get an X-ray done,” an England ‘source’ told the Daily Mail.

“There’s nothing you can do to treat broken ribs anyway, so it was a case of just getting on with things.”

England fans wondering why Anderson may have been so ineffective during the series – he took just 14 wickets at 43.94 – may now have an answer, of sorts, to their question.

While Anderson played through the discomfort to see out the Ashes, his England team-mates Jonathan Trott (stress-related illness) and Graeme Swann (retirement) played just one and two Tests respectively.

In the aftermath of the series loss Andy Flower has departed as senior coach and star batsman Kevin Pietersen has been axed from the England team.