The Ashes 2019: Jimmy Anderson gives first-hand account of how English players dealt with Headingley pressure

The skipper kept jumping up and down, the veteran paceman was nearly in tears while the middle order stalwart wouldn’t stop pacing around. There was certainly high tension in the England dressingroom at Headingley.

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Joe Root was standing up and sitting down after every ball, Joe Denly was pacing the bathroom and Stuart Broad was almost in tears.

Jimmy Anderson, who remains upbeat he will be cleared to return in next week’s fourth Ashes Test, has given a frank insight into the superstition, euphoria and shock that enveloped England’s dressing room at Headingley.

Anderson was at the ground for Ben Stokes’ heroics as he continues to recover from a calf injury, although he watched the allrounder’s stunning final-wicket stand with Jack Leach on a TV screen.

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The English players rush to congratulate Ben Stokes after his heroics.

Ben Stokes is acclaimed by the crowd after his Headingley heroics.

The heaving crowd’s roar spoiled most big moments before they were televised, seconds later.

“Because it’s quite a small viewing area, the superstition goes into overdrive,” Anderson said on his Tailenders podcast.

“So you have Joe Denly pacing the urinals ... Root got into a routine of standing up every ball then having to sit back down, just in time for the ball to be bowled.

“Me and a couple of other lads, Jason Roy and Rory Burns, were in the physio room. There’s a window there but it faces out of the ground ... I was in a lucky spot (so couldn’t move).

“It’s quite a low ceiling, so Stuart Broad put his head through the roof a couple of times I think ... he (later) said those last 20 runs he felt like crying after every ball.”

The eruption of emotion when Stokes hit the winning runs was equal parts celebration and “what has just happened”.

“It was absolutely mental,” Anderson said.

“At the end everyone was like ‘oh my god, what have we just witnessed!?’. It was insane.”

Anderson insisted belief always remained strong among Root’s team in the match, even when skittled for 67 and set a target of 359.

However, he also admitted Roy and Burns left the physio room when the ninth wicket fell and England required a further 73 runs.

“You kind of resign yourself to the fact this could be the Ashes gone. There’s a high probability we’re not going to win,” Anderson said.

“The guys in the physio room went to the viewing area, thinking this might not go for much longer ... might have to shake hands (soon).”

Jack Leach hugs Ben Stokes after the all-rounder hit the winning runs.

The words of Anderson, set to roll his arm over on Tuesday, underline how much confidence his team will take to Manchester next week.

England’s squad wandered out to the middle of Headingley approximately four hours after Stokes’ guttural roar, with Leach re-enacting his single that tied up the match.

They also gathered around a small screen in the rooms to watch the final stages of Stokes’ knock.

“You could see him getting quite emotional ... there was a lot of emotion in the room,” Anderson said.