England veteran pacer James Anderson has finally opened up on his poor performance in the ongoing high-octane Ashes series. The 40-year-old could not make an impactful performance for his team, as he picked up only three wickets in the first two games. It is widely reported that James Anderson might be dropped in favour of Mark Wood in the third test.
Before the start of the series, Anderson picked up the injury during the county championship while bowling on the opening day of Lancashire’s clash against Somerset, as he could not find his usual best after returning from the injury.
In his column for Telegraph, James Anderson admitted that he could not make an impact with the ball for the England side stating that he cannot remember having two quiet games in a row, as he always contributed a big stage for the team and said that he is going through a lean patch in test cricket and added that his poor form in red-ball doesn’t have anything to do with his age.
“I will be honest. You want to contribute in the big series and I cannot remember having two such quiet games in a row for at least the past 10 years. 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,” James Anderson wrote in his column for Telegraph.
“It comes with the territory at my age for people to speculate about my future. I am saying lean patch but it is only two games out of 181. But I understand. It is a high-profile series and you get put under the spotlight a bit more and the easy target is to say he is getting on a bit. But the reason I have not taken wickets is not because of my age,” he asserted.
The right-arm pacer failed to make much of an impact in the series, as he picked up only 2 wickets in the three innings for his side. In the ongoing second test in Lord’s, the right-arm pacer picked up only one wicket on the conditions that helped the bowlers.
I Am Not Thinking About The Future, I Will Just Try To Work As Hard… – James Anderson
“I am not thinking about the future. The future for me is just thinking about Thursday and the start of the next Test. That is as far ahead as I will look. I have said it before, even when doing well, that I do not look too far ahead.
“I will just try to work as hard as I can before Thursday. If I get the nod, I will put in a performance the team need. If not, I will keep working hard and play a role at some stage across the series,” James Anderson added.
Earlier during the New Zealand series, England veteran fast bowling duo Stuart Broad and James Anderson became the second bowling pair to take 1000 wickets together in Test cricket and were excepted to play an important role for England in the Ashes 2023. It will interesting to see the kind of team England fields against Australia in the 3rd test in Headingley.