With England sending a statement of intent ahead of the Ashes with an impressive win in the warm-up game against Cricket Australia XI, veteran fast-bowler James Anderson has lauded the bowling performance.
After setting up 268 run target, the England bowlers came up with a stunning effort to bowl Cricket Australia XI out for a paltry 75. The home side had begun the final day of the game on 70 for seven, but the tail could not delay the inevitable for long, as Anderson picked up a couple of wickets while Craig Overton picked one to fire the visitors to a 192-run win.
The bowlers’ brilliant effort made up for the batsmen’s dismal show, as England lost all of their wickets for just 128 runs in the second innings. But Cricket Australia XI’s hopes of inflicting a famous defeat on the visitors was thwarted by the England bowlers who were led superbly by Chris Woakes’ four-wicket haul on day three.
“I thought the three seamers bowled really well,” Anderson said.“We knew we had an important job to do, especially being a bowler down with Jake Ball being injured. Having seen the movement the Australians got earlier in the day, we were encouraged by that, and we knew that if we put enough balls in the right area, we could challenge them. We just tried to stay patient, hit our areas as much as we could and we created pressure from both ends very well. We deserve those seven wickets.”
The match would have been over on the penultimate day of the four-day warm-up tie when England had reduced the home side to 25 for seven, but Matthew Short (28) and Gurinder Sandhu (17) shared an unbeaten partnership of 45 runs to save their team from further humiliation.
Anderson further expressed his delight over replacing the suspended Ben Stokes as the vice-captain of the team. But at the same time, England’s leading Test wicket-taker made it clear that the added responsibility does not change his role in the team which is to help others as a senior player.
“It’s a really nice thing for Joe to ask me to do,” Anderson said. “I don’t think it really changes my role in the team. As a senior player, I’ve always felt I’ve got a responsibility to try and help out. Myself, Stuart (Broad) and Alastair (Cook) have been here before and had success here before will play an important role on this trip, and I don’t see that changing.”
Anderson went on to admit that England’s batting performance ‘is not ideal’. Against a bowling lineup which did not have a single international bowler, Joe Root & Co. were reeling at 124 for seven before Jonny Bairstow’s unbeaten fifty helped them reach a respectable 207.
“It’s not ideal,” admitted Anderson. “Hopefully we are getting that out of the way before the Test series starts. It’s something we’ve got to look at and probably have a chat about after the game as to why it happened and what we could have done differently.”
The 35-year old also said England is looking to win the warm-up games to enter the Ashes in the best frame of mind.
“It’s a first-class game so we want to win it,” Anderson said. “You create a winning environment, and that’s important going into a huge series like the Ashes. Obviously, you want guys in form, and some batsmen have got some really good time in the middle, there are some that haven’t. It’s not too much of an issue now as long as they score runs in the first Test at the Gabba. The bowlers seem to be getting better every spell, so that’s a positive.”
The first match of the five-Test series will start on November 23 in Brisbane.
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