James Anderson has been the most important bowler for England in Test cricket for almost 20 years. His records are amazing, especially at home. He has taken 430 of his 686 Test catches in England. Anderson can still keep hitters up at night, even though he is 40 years old.
Before the first Ashes Test between Australia and England in Birmingham, their main goal would have been to stop England’s “Bazball” style. The Aussie batters, on the other hand, would have spent their time with their batting coach and film analyst making a plan for how to play against Anderson, an old foe. The right-handed seamer came into the game after two good Tests in New Zealand, where he took ten wickets.
But at Edgbaston, James Anderson didn’t live up to his promise. In the first innings, he only got Alex Carey out, and in the second inning, he didn’t get anyone out. It was also surprising that he didn’t take the second new ball when Stuart Broad and Ollie Robinson started Australia’s second innings. He said he didn’t have a good game, but he also said that the pitch wasn’t very good for pacers.
He wrote in the Daily Telegraph, “It’s a long series, and I hope I can help at some point, but if all the pitches are like that, I’m out of the Ashes series.”
“It didn’t have much swing, no backswing, seam movement, bounce, or pace. I’ve spent years trying to get better at bowling so I can do it in any weather, but nothing I did helped. I felt like I was going against the odds. Even though I was a little rusty, I did everything I could. Since I’ve played for a long time, I know that you can’t always take catches. Sometimes it is not your week. For me, it felt like that.”
James Anderson songs at Lord’s were perfect.
The second test will start on June 28 at Lord’s Cricket Ground, which is well-known. Chris Rogers, a former Australian opener, thought that the fast Mark Wood could replace James Anderson in the Lord’s Test. However, dropping the veteran at a ground where he has consistently frustrated batters for so many years could be one of the hardest decisions that coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes could have to make.
Anderson is the player who has taken the most wickets at Lord’s. He has 117 wickets from 27 matches, and his best bowling numbers at the historic venue are 9/43.