James Anderson Cricket

James Anderson for The Mail on Sunday

In 16 days’ time, Andrew Strauss’s world-beating England team will re-engage a cricketing nation some thought should have been kicked out of the international game for good.

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JAMES ANDERSON FOR BLOKELY.COM

James Anderson picks out three ups from England’s ill-fated Indian adventure. Oh, and he pulled the plug at three minuses n’all…

THREE PLUSES…

A WIN IS A WIN!

Beating India in the one T20I of the tour at Kolkata was our first win over there since 2006. Although it hardly makes up for losing all five of the 50-over games, at least it did mean that we retain our status as the top ranked 20-over side in the world.

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JAMES ANDERSON FOR BLOKELY.COM

I’ve played in two whitewashes in my career. The first was the Ashes in Australia in 2006/07 and the second one was also on a tour of India where we didn’t win a single game.

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In short, it’s demoralising. Being philosophical, I’d say a Test hammering is tougher to take than defeat in one-dayers because it goes on for longer, but to lose a one-day series as comprehensively as England have this time in India is still tough to take.

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JAMES ANDERSON FOR BLOKELY.COM

ENGLAND 220 all out in 46.2 overs (Bresnan 45, Pietersen 41)

INDIA – 223-4 in 40.1 overs (Kohli 86*, Raina 80, Finn 3-45)

RESULT: India won by six wickets and lead England by four games to nil in the series.

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This, the fourth one-dayer of the series. was undoubtedly the toughest for England. It perfectly illustrated the impact that the ebb and flow of confidence plays in the outcome of cricket matches.

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JAMES ANDERSON FOR BLOKELY.COM

ENGLAND 298-4 in 50 overs (Trott 98*, Patel 70*, Pietersen 64)

INDIA – 300-5 in 49.2 overs (Rahane 91, Gambhir 58)

RESULT: India won by five wickets and lead England by three games to nil in the series.

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Jonathan Trott’s knock of 98 not out, England’s highest of the series, was always likely to prove a significant contribution. But as England closed their innings at the half-way stage of the game, only four wickets down, it was difficult to judge for which side.

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JAMES ANDERSON FOR BLOKELY.COM

ENGLAND 237 all out in 48.2 overs (Pietersen 46, Patel 42, V Kumar 4-30)

INDIA 238-2 in 36.4 overs (Gambhir 84*, Kohli 112*)

RESULT: India won by eight wickets.

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An unbeaten third wicket partnership of 209 between Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli put the tin lid on Alastair Cook’s men today after all five of England’s middle-order made it to 30, but no one bettered KP’s 46.

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JAMES ANDERSON FOR BLOKELY.COM

INDIA 300-7 in 50 over (MS Dhoni 87*, Raina 61, Swann 1-35)

ENGLAND 174 all out in 36.1 overs (Cook 60)

RESULT: India won by 126 runs

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You’d have to concede that MS Dhoni’s helicopter shot-filled 87 not out scored at the end of India’s innings was the telling contribution in the first one-dayer at Hyderabad.  He was rightly named man of the match.

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James Anderson writes for the Mail On Sunday:13th August 2011

Team player: Jimmy Anderson gives the verdict on his team-mates
They have been together for two years under captain Andrew Strauss and coach Andy Flower. After routing Australia 3-1 last winter in the Ashes, now they have crushed India. Leader of the attack Jimmy Anderson gives his unique insight into the first England team to be officially ranked world No1.

ANDY FLOWER
Got our analysts to set out a two-to-three-year road map of fixtures, tours and series to become world No 1 and showed us where we’d be if we won each one by a certain score. It underlined how tough it would be to get the required results, especially in Australia and South Africa, but if you have a goal you need to know how to achieve it. Always challenging us in practice, which keeps minds fresh and maintains a desire to improve.

ANDREW STRAUSS
Gets it in the neck (from Swann, mainly) for his posh public school upbringing, but his sense of humour means he is as much one of the lads as anyone. When he needs to be captain, he has the total respect of the players. He’d never ask you to do anything he wouldn’t do himself and he’s strong on players taking responsibility for their own preparation and performance.

ALASTAIR COOK
After struggling slightly in the first two Tests against India he went straight to the nets with Graham Gooch, his long-term mentor at Essex. He’s just batted for 13 hours and 23 minutes at Edgbaston and scored 294 runs, using the same pair of gloves for the innings and during two warmup sessions before each day. They were dry as a bone when he got out. Freakish that he never sweats.

JONATHAN TROTT
Likes to bat in his own time, in his own style and wants to get big runs every time. Some have said his batting is not exactly a thing of beauty, but it is a joy to watch for us bowlers. To win Test matches you need 20 wickets and you’ve got a much better chance if you can have a day off with your feet up now and then.

KEVIN PIETERSEN
Had to re-adjust after losing the captaincy and had a rough yearby his own admission. Continues to put in all the work and is now batting brilliantly again, which shows his hunger is still there. He and Trott get ribbed about their South African background but on the field everyone pulls in the same direction.

IAN BELL
We are all pleased for him with the form he’s been in and the runs he’s made. He’s done brilliantly at six and now great at No 3 in Trott’s absence. Took a look at himself a year or so ago and added steel to his skill, but when he’s in form he is the guy we all want to watch. Pleasing on the eye and has a body of work to go with his style.

EOIN MORGAN
Had a great start to his one-day career with his unique range of extraordinary shots, but there was plenty of debate over whether he or Ravi Bopara should come in once Paul Collingwood packed up. With an icy calm temperament and huge selfbelief, he is settling well and seems to get better each time he plays. Sometimes so cool you want to check his pulse. Scary.

MATT PRIOR
His batting has become solid and dependable, but he is also the lynchpin of the side in the field. Keeps the energy up, gets people going and applies the odd kick up the backside. Also passes on vital advice to the bowlers. Often, when I’m bowling against left-handers, I’ve been unsure whether I should come around the wicket, he has said: ‘No, stay over, lbw is still in play.’ And it has worked.

TIM BRESNAN
Summed up brilliantly by a Michael Vaughan tweet saying you wouldn’t have him in your pub quiz team, but he’s a helluva bowler. He’s shown he is real world class; very skilful with the ball, possessing a brutish bouncer that’s heavier than you expect. An extremely capable batsman.

STUART BROAD
Like Cook he has responded brilliantly to external pressure over his place in the side. But we all knew he was bowling better than his figures suggested, just not having the rub of the green. Has the skill to counter-attack with the bat, as he did when he swung the game our way in Nottingham. The Aussies don’t call him Kylie any more.

GRAEME SWANN
If you insist. Our outstanding performer over the past couple of years, picking up wickets, chipping in with runs and winding us all up with his shocking humour. Rarely gets down, except when he has an LBW not given, but the sprinkler dance in his Ashes video diary said it all. Indispensable on and off the field. Now, Graeme, take your boot off my throat.

JAMES ANDERSON
I’ve enjoyed leading the attack and being part of this amazing group. A key moment came last summer against Pakistan when I worked on a new ‘wobbly seam’ ball with bowling coach David Saker. It can nip either way and proved crucial in Australia so I’m using it even more now.

To read the full article with Mail on Sunday click here

Here James Anderson chronicles exclusively for The Mail on Sunday the 10 decisive moments on an unforgettable journey that is poised to end with Andrew Strauss and his team of heroes on top of the world : 6th August 2011

1. 51 all out at Sabina Park, February 2009
At the time, being bowled out for 51 by West Indies in the first Test did not feel like a step on the road to becoming No 1 but what followed was a turning point.
We started the trip without a coach following Peter Moores’ sacking and with the new captain Andrew Strauss aware that the one he had replaced, Kevin Pietersen, was not best pleased at the manner of his dismissal.
After we were rolled over, assistant coach Andy Flower and Strauss led a team meeting which went something like: ‘You’re grown men, it’s time to take a bit of responsibility for yourselves, your practice, your preparation.’
They did not just want the captain to be the leader. Their formula was based on having a team of leaders. A key moment.

2. The Great escape I, and its aftermath
We weren’t confident going into the 2009 Ashes series. We said we were at team meetings but, deep down, we knew it was going to be really hard for us.
If we had lost on that last day of the first Test in Cardiff, that could have further dented our confidence.
So when I completed my first-innings 15 not out with the two fours off Peter Siddle which gave us the lead, my effort, along with support from Monty Panesar and Paul Collingwood, made sure we had a spring in our step at Lord’s and a determination not to waste our Cardiff efforts.
We carried the momentum from Cardiff into the second Test and Freddie Flintoff’s second-innings five-for enabled us to keep it.

3. Trott’s Ashes hundred at the Oval
Jonathan Trott’s composed hundred on his Test debut in the final Test at The Oval was the key to our winning the Ashes; but how many recall the equally fine decision by umpire Asad Rauf which allowed him to make it?
We were 58-3 in response to their 160 all out when the first ball of day three clipped something woody-sounding on the way to Brad Haddin. Even Trott thought that, if the umpire was going on sound, he might be struggling. But replays showed Rauf was right and Trott cashed in. What a find he has been. He is as infuriating to bowl at as he looks, especially with his gardening habits but, when he’s on your side, you wouldn’t swap him for anyone.

4. Finding a way to fill Fred’s boots
Great character and player though he was, the hole Fred left did not turn out to be as big as some feared.
We pace bowlers knew we would have to bowl his overs but we also knew the void could be filled. I wanted to be the bowler Straussy threw the ball to, the ‘leader’ of the attack. And I felt that faith in me and the responsibility that goes with it for the first time during the third Test of the 2009-10 tour to South Africa in Cape Town, when I took five in the second innings.

Big shoes to fill: All-rounder Andrew Flintoff retired after the 2009 Ashes victory
It gives you a boost no matter how tired you are. It meant the captain and team were expecting me to succeed, not hoping.

5. The Great escape II and III
The sequels to Cardiff were shot at Centurion Park and The Wanderers as we fought for a massive 1-1 draw in South Africa, and they starred Graham Onions and Paul Collingwood.
But the first wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for my 106-run ninth-wicket stand with Graeme Swann, to which I contributed 29 from 78 balls and my first and so far only six in firstclass cricket, a slog sweep off Paul Harris.

Swanny did point out that the ball travels much further at altitude! We rode the feeling to Durban where Stuart Broad ripped through their second innings (133 all out) and we won the second Test.
Runs from down the order have made a huge impact, like Stuart keeping us in the second Test against India. Batting buddies have helped, as has our batting coach.

6. The Pakistan slurs brought us closer
How we came through the match-fixing scandal showed just how close we were.
When the mad accusations about us being involved were made just before the one-dayer at Lord’s, we had a long meeting into the early hours debating whether we should turn up or not.
We weren’t happy about playing in that series but we were determined to do a professional job and move on, so to win the series in the end was huge.

7. Preparation for Ashes 2010-11
Didn’t start great when I had a rib busted by Chris Tremlett in a Bavarian forest boxing ring, but underpinning all our efforts has been our physical fitness and the work of strength and conditioning coach Huw Bevan and fielding coach Richard Halsall. Bowling coach David Saker wasn’t a high-profile appointment but his work has been invaluable and spin coach Mushtaq Ahmed’s speeches hit the spot. Players and management are together, not us and them.

8. Ashes 2010-11 – Winning 1st day, second Test
Australia two for three. See No7, re fielding! Trott running out Simon Katich for nought was worth the effort.
Then I bowled a wobbly little thing to Ricky Ponting, he went at it hard and edged it to Swann at first slip.
Key here was that he, or possibly Straussy, sensing they might be too deep, brought the slips one pace forward. Ponting’s edge just made it to Swann’s new position. Michael Clarke stuck another one right in his mitts. 2-3 and we were off. Annoying to lose in Perth where we just didn’t handle Mitchell Johnson but the first day at Melbourne turned it all back in our favour as we bowled them out for 98.

9. Selectors backing the players under pressure
My 24 wickets made that Ashes series statistically my best. I did surprise myself how well I bowled and silenced a few who thought I couldn’t bowl with the Kookaburra ball. Alastair Cook was backed when he had a poor run in 2009 and he paid the selectors back 10 times over. Kevin Pietersen has been supported and his double-hundred in the first Test against India at Lord’s was maybe his best innings for England.
Stuart Broad was under pressure after being left out of the final OD I with Sri Lanka. Look how he has responded to being retained — a hat-trick and 5-0 in 16 balls at Trent Bridge.

10. Beating Sri Lanka on the final day in Cardiff and coming from behind against India
After our disappointment in the World Cup we needed a pick-me–up straight away. I was injured for the second innings, and not many in a very sparse crowd gave us a chance of winning the game, especially after we batted on to let Ian Bell get his ton. Straussy said ‘we’ll have 40 or 50 overs at them, let’s try and bowl them out’ and the guys caused their batsmen huge problems. Beating India by the right margin will take us to No 1 but we had to get past Sri Lanka first.

To read the full article with Mail on Sunday click here

James Anderson writes for the Mail On Sunday: 31st July 2011

Stuart Broad’s amazing display was just the latest example of his growing ability to turn a match on its head with ball and bat. At Lord’s last week and now at Trent Bridge, he has produced the kind of performances that might persuade some to think of him as a Freddie Flintoff-type all-rounder. But in my opinion they shouldn’t. Stuart found himself under pressure before the start of the series, with some critics questioning his place in the side. He couldn’t have done more to prove them wrong.

At Lord’s, his seven wickets over two innings were impressive enough, but his second-innings batting with Matt Prior not only got us out of possible trouble but set up our victory. Here, without his batting we might have struggled to make 150. Then he transformed the game. Much more of Dravid and Yuvraj and we might have been staring at an Indian score of 450 and a desperate fight to save the game. We knew how vital the second new ball was going to be and the importance of bowling in partnerships. But once he got started there was no stopping him.

The ball Stuart got Yuvraj with was special; the kind of ball he should have fallen too much earlier, but the hat-trick was fantastic. As much as the crowd were roaring Stuart on for the last ball of it, it was absolutely vital that we kept as cool as possible. The ball could have come to any one of us and he might not have seen the funny side if we were too busy getting excited to actually take the catch. As it was, he took us all out of the game by bowling a perfect length ball that nipped back into Praveen and bowled him all ends up.

By the time he’d finished, our mood had gone from frustration at what might have been, with dropped catches and disallowed referrals, to thinking we were right back in the game. But I’d resist all calls to change Broady’s role. His bowling speaks for itself, but I think at the moment he is far more dangerous at eight or nine because of the freedom of not being expected to do much. He can block when he needs to and counter-attack when the chance comes, as it did on day one here. I say leave him where he is and let him play.

To read the full article with Mail on Sunday click here