Anderson looks to make mark in Ashes
Will James Anderson be running in to bowl from Old Trafford’s James Anderson End for one final time this week? Sans any sentiment, the answer is likely to hinge on the England pacer’s performance on his return to the team for the fourth Ashes Test against Australia, beginning on Wednesday, at his home turf in Manchester. At least not in the past decade of his decorated career has Anderson gone into a Test in England with a big point to prove in a high-stakes battle.
England’s James Anderson during practice(Reuters)
But in this final stretch, Anderson – he will turn 41 on July 30 – finds himself facing exactly that situation. It may seem strange for a bowler who is 12 shy of 700 wickets after 181 Tests, but by taking only three wickets in the first two Tests at an average of 75.33 before being ‘rested’ for the third, he has left himself open to a bit of scrutiny. He has, of course, had to deal with his share of savage criticism on away tours, but seldom has Anderson – a masterful exponent of swing bowling – disappointed in his backyard. So wily and ruthless is Anderson in usually favourable English conditions that he is sometimes unfairly termed a ‘home bully’.
Anderson’s current predicament means he wasn’t making the mistake of assuming automatic selection in front of his home crowd at Old Trafford. Even though England captain Ben Stokes explained Anderson’s omission from the third Test in Headingley by saying that the bowler could prepare “to charge in from the James Anderson End at Old Trafford next week”.
“I know I am not guaranteed to play the next Test and I will completely understand if they want to stick with the winning team,” Anderson wrote in a column for UK’s Telegraph before his inclusion was confirmed on Tuesday in place of Ollie Robinson.
Now that England have decided to tinker with the winning combination, Anderson will be compelled to play his part in a series brimming with intrigue and plot twists. To be fair, he wasn’t helped by the pitches dished out for the first two games. Neither the surface at Edgbaston nor the one at Lord’s played to Anderson’s traditional strength of pitching the ball up and extracting movement either way. Hell-bent as England are on Bazball, the pitches were instead tailored to suit the needs of their attacking batters.
Anderson didn’t mince his displeasure after the first Test, saying that the pitch in Edgbaston had been like “kryptonite” for him. If he took just a solitary wicket there, his performance at Lord’s was only marginally better with a wicket in each innings.
“I cannot remember having two such quiet games in a row for at least the past 10 years,” Anderson wrote in that column. “I feel like I have always contributed at some stage. But I do not think I am bowling particularly badly; I am just going through a lean patch, which you do not want to happen in an Ashes. I am not going to criticise the pitch again. They have not suited me so far, but I have found ways of getting wickets in the past on flat pitches. At the moment, I am just not finding that knack.”
History suggests that Old Trafford should aid Anderson’s quest to regain that knack. In 10 Tests at the venue, Anderson has claimed 37 scalps at an average of 22.02, including match figures of 6/62 in a thumping victory over South Africa last year. England’s mindset regarding the sort of pitches they want has undergone a sizeable shift since the coming together of Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum, but Anderson should have the tools to still find a way.
For all the talk about batting-friendly pitches in England of late, it’s pertinent to note that Anderson has taken 30 wickets in eight home Tests at an average of 23.43 since May 2022.
Anderson’s mini-break has perhaps also helped him gain some perspective. “Looking back on the first two games, I was too serious and too intense,” Anderson said. “The series is now alive and it has been amazing to be a part of it and I would love to get a chance to contribute again. It is something I have done for a number of years —turn up when the team needs me and put in a performance that can impact a game.”
If Anderson can do so this week, he may just be back for another Test at Old Trafford next summer.
