By Malcolm Conn
The world’s most successful fast bowler, Jimmy Anderson, has hinted he may retire if the pitches in this Ashes series continue to be as flat as the one served up for the first Test at Edgbaston.
“If all the pitches are like that I’m done in the Ashes series,” Anderson wrote in his column in London’s Daily Telegraph just days after he played almost no part in a dramatic Test, which Australia won by two wickets late on the fifth day.
“That pitch was like kryptonite for me. There was not much swing, no reverse swing, no seam movement, no bounce and no pace,” wrote Anderson, who will be 41 next month. “I’ve tried over the years to hone my skills so I can bowl in any conditions but everything I tried made no difference. I felt like I was fighting an uphill battle.”
With 686 wickets at an average of 26 in 180 Tests, Anderson sits behind only Muttiah Muralitharan (800) and Shane Warne (708) as the most successful bowler of all time. However, he claimed only one wicket in the first Ashes Test and was not used late in the game when Australia’s tail were completing an improbable run chase and England took the second new ball.
There have been suggestions Anderson is still feeling the groin injury which kept him out of England’s Test against Ireland early this month, but an England team spokesman denied there were any fitness concerns.
Anderson also defended fellow fast bowler Ollie Robinson for his abusive send-off of Usman Khawaja. Robinson’s celebration, after bowling Khawaja for 141 on Saturday, included him saying “f--- off, you f------ p---k”.
Jimmy Anderson is the highest-ranked fast bowler on the all-time Test wicket list but his long career may be nearing its end.Credit: AP
“Ollie did nothing wrong when he had his moment with Khawaja. In fact, I stood at mid-off for most of the game and didn’t hear anything said by either team that was unacceptable,” Anderson wrote.
Khawaja also said he didn’t hear anything because the crowd noise was so loud when he was dismissed.
“I don’t want Ollie to change. I like him getting fired up. He bowls better when he is in that mood. From personal experience, I know I bowl better when I am a bit more aggressive and intense,” Anderson wrote.
“I stepped in to chat to Ollie when he and Usman were having an exchange of views in the second innings. It was gentle stuff, they were just talking cricket.”
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