In May, James Anderson became the first England bowler to take 400 Test wickets but a side injury which forced him to miss the final two Ashes Tests raised questions as to how much longer he would play. At 33, he still feels he has plenty left in the tank
Andrew McGlashan in Dubai29-Oct-2015James Anderson has a lower Test bowling average in the UAE than any other country he has played in. For a fast bowler, that is quite some badge of honour.It is not a skewed sample size either. He has now played five Tests in the region, the same number he has clocked up in South Africa and New Zealand and only two fewer than India and West Indies.In those five outings, Anderson has collected 16 wickets at 23.93, his seven wickets at 19.14 so far in the two matches of this tour nudging his average below his figure playing in West Indies where his returns come at 24.92.In terms of visiting pacemen in the UAE he has the fourth lowest average after Glenn McGrath (7.40), Andy Bichel (13.25) and Vernon Philander (23.00). The figures of McGrath and Bichel are helped by having been involved in the 2002 Test in Sharjah when Pakistan were bowled out for 59 and 53 in Sharjah.Spoils have not come that easily for Anderson on this tour – and he can only dream of a scenario where Pakistan are skittled in such fashion in the final Test – but he takes extra satisfaction from earning success on pitches which test a fast bowler’s skill and endurance to the limit.”It is a real test of your skills and it is quite good fun,” he said. “If you have a good day out here you feel you get more out of it personally. There is more reward.”Anderson, with 67 overs, has also bowled more in this series than any other England quick (Wahab Riaz is top overall with 83 overs) but the workload has been very evenly shared between him, Stuart Broad (56), Mark Wood (62.5) and Ben Stokes (58.1). After some initial worries when they first arrived and the temperature was in the mid-40s, Anderson said that conditions have not proved too demanding.”The first couple of days we were worried about how we were going to get through because the heat was quite severe but as the series has gone on the temperature has dropped and we have got used to it as well. We have been bowling three, four, five over spells which doesn’t actually take too much out of you.”Anderson has operated in a variety of guises through the two matches – both of which have seen England bowl first after Alastair Cook lost the toss – from a traditional new-ball bowler for the few overs where the ball might swing, to searching for reverse later on and also bringing out a repertoire of slower balls.”In these conditions you’ve got to try and get something out of it as a seamer, you try all sorts of things,” he said. “We’ve had the keeper up at different stages, you bowl offcutters and things like that. The ball that got Misbah the other day was a genuine offspinner, you just try it.Anderson’s economy for the series is a parsimonious 2.00 while Stokes at 3.00 is England’s most expensive seamer as Pakistan have sought to play out the pacemen and target the spinners – Moeen Ali has conceded 4.34 an over and Adil Rashid 4.27 – which has left Anderson wishing the batsmen would play more shots against him.”It has been frustrating as well because you need people to go after you on these wickets to get the chances, so that is why we’ve set certain fields and tried to be aggressive with our plans,” he said.The four-man pace attack is likely to be retained for Sharjah, where England need to win to level the series, which would be a move away from the pre-series thoughts they had on playing three spinners. It would also be significant because Mark Wood will have played three consecutive Tests where the initial suggestion was his body may only allow him two.England may have to consider relieving him of ODI or T20 duty later in the tour – with an eye on the South Africa Test series which starts on Boxing Day – but he produced his most impressive Test performance in Dubai where he collected five wickets in the match and, especially in the first innings, troubled Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq with short deliveries.”He has done brilliantly. Him and Ben Stokes, their bowling has improved out of sight on this trip,” Anderson said. “The first week we were here, the first warm-up game I remember both of them saying it was pretty boring. They both want to take wickets, they want to steam in and rough people up but you can’t just do that out here.”The way Mark bowled in that first innings [in Dubai] going away from his natural game… I thought he was outstanding and he’s getting to grips with bowling different balls, cutters and little subtle variations which again will improve his game no end.”Not that Anderson has any plans on permanently passing England’s fast-bowling baton onto the younger models anytime soon. In May, Anderson became the first England bowler to take 400 Test wickets but a side injury which forced him to miss the final two Ashes Tests raised a question as to how much longer he would play. At 33, he still feels he has plenty left in the tank.”You’re making me feel really old … as if I’m coming to the end! But why can’t I play for another five years? I’m loving it at the minute, loving bowling, loving playing, enjoying taking wickets and the challenges we’ve got ahead. I’m going to keep going till my body can’t take any more.”James Anderson is speaking on behalf of Waitrose, Official Sponsor of the England Cricket Team. For exclusive player content visit waitrose.com/cricket
