England bowler James Anderson claims that the incident with India’s Ravindra Jadeja at last year’s Trent Bridge Test negatively affected his World Cup performance.
Anderson was charged with pushing Ravindra Jadeja within the Pavilion during the first Test.
The result was that James Anderson was charged with a Level 3 breach of the ICC Code of Conduct.
England had been previously eliminated in the World Cup Group stages, having won only two out of six games. Anderson may have contributed significantly to this early and dismal exit, as he only took five wickets in six games, even though he was poised to be one of England’s deadliest bowling attacks.
Anderson admitted that during the World Cup, he felt as though the ICC was ‘watching him’, and he could not be his normal aggressive self, thus affecting his performance.
Anderson is part of the squad that enters the test series against West Indies, this being his 100th test appearance, a landmark for the 32-year old.
Anderson has wreaked havoc against opponents while playing against Test opponents for England, taking a near-record challenging number wickets for England in test matches.
If Anderson manages to snap up four more wickets on the first game against West Indies, he will be the record holder for most wickets taken in test matches for England, overhauling the previous record by Ian Boltham.