James Anderson beamer to David Warner, on paceman’s 41st birthday, a red flag as call on future looms

James Anderson sent an incredibly rare beamer David Warner’s way on the penultimate day of the Ashes. It was another warning that a decision on his future may now be out of his hands, writes STEVE JAMES.

The shock from all concerned was obvious and, in the case of the batsman David Warner, fully audible.

James Anderson had just bowled a beamer, which is an occurrence as rare as a smile while the “Burnley Express” is undertaking the serious task of bowling quickly.

Anderson did bowl a beamer at Warner (nothing personal, Davie) in the Brisbane Test of 2017, but that was a failed attempt at a slower ball and any further examples are beyond recall or excavation, with Benedict Bermange of Sky Sports reckoning that he possesses descriptions of 37,071 of Anderson’s 39,314 deliveries in Test cricket and can find no other such case. Which seems incontrovertible enough.

Tearaways with slingy actions such as the former Australia paceman, Brett Lee, could inadvertently bowl beamers quite often and there have been some irascible types known to bowl them deliberately. For instance, there was a strong suspicion that India’s Shanthakumaran Sreesanth had done so to Kevin Pietersen at Trent Bridge in 2007, with Mike Atherton, then writing in a rival newspaper, calling for the bowler to be banned as a result.

David Warner manages to avoid, and hit for four, a rare beamer from James Anderson. Pictrre: Adrian Dennis/AFP

I definitely received two beamers in my career that were bowled on purpose. The names of the offenders do not really matter, but the difficulty and danger of dealing with what the pros call a “flat one” are worth recounting.

It is a quite horrendous experience. Batters are programmed to watch the ball out of a bowler’s hand and then to avert their eyes immediately towards the pitch. A beamer means that the ball suddenly vanishes and utter panic strikes the batter, even if the ball does not do so. It is simply a no-go in cricket, an act beyond the pale, the reason for an instant warning and the two-strikes-and-off-policy for any bowler indulging in such behaviour.

That is not to say that Anderson was doing, or thinking about, anything nefarious. Like nearly all fast bowlers of my acquaintance, he can be grumpy, but he is certainly not sinister.

This beamer was obviously and undoubtedly accidental, the result of a slip, and Anderson duly offered an apology - one accepted with a smile by the left-handed Warner, who actually played the delivery quite brilliantly, rocking his head back and deflecting the ball down to third man for four.

But it still rather summed up Anderson’s and England’s day - the seamer’s 41st birthday, no less. Nothing, apart from Stuart Broad smiting his last ball in professional cricket for six over the leg side, went to plan.

David Warner smiles after copping a beamer from James Anderson. Picture: Adrian Dennis/AFP

It must have been odd for Anderson walking out to bat with Broad at the start of play, allowing his long-time mucker to accept the guard of honour as he waited and applauded too. Was there a moment when he thought to himself that Broad’s course of action might not be a bad idea? The departing hero is four years his junior, after all.

The word privately and publicly - “In terms of retirement, I’ve got no interest in going any time soon,” he said a couple of days ago - is that Anderson is immovable in his desire to continue, but for him it has been a series in which his answers to the many questions posed have been less than convincing.

This second innings was little different from the rest of the summer. In ten wicketless overs for 34, with four maidens, Anderson did not bowl badly, and one beauty from round the wicket to beat Usman Khawaja was certainly confirmation of his class, but it was the lack of movement in general that was a concern.

We have been here before, of course, when it was said Anderson could not bowl abroad. He rather disproved that theory, but you do wonder if his quest to do just that has taken something away from his greatest strength - that of being a devastating swing bowler, with the wrist of magician taking the ball away from or into the batsman at will. His slight falling away in a lithe action created an angle into the right-hander that was fiendishly difficult to line up when the possibility of the ball darting away lavishly remained.

James Anderson my have lost control over the decision about his retirement. Picture: Adrian Dennis/AFP

The former England head coach, Duncan Fletcher, always tells a story of taking a baseball mitt to a young Anderson bowling at a stump in the middle and then missing more balls than he ever had before, simply because Anderson was duping him with that angle and late swing. Many a wicketkeeper since can sympathise.

But Ricky Ponting made a pertinent point during the previous Test at Headingley, observing that Anderson is no longer a swing bowler, whether by design or accident. The reliance on the wobble-seam ball has altered everything. In the first innings here he probably bowled better than at any time in the series, but he was still only achieving shape rather than genuine swing.

It may just be a lean patch from which he can recover, but the problem is that when such periods come at an advanced sporting age, the minds of participant and observers can too easily tend to the awful realisation that the game is up and Father Time can have his man.

“As soon as you get into your 30s as a bowler, people are asking how long you’ve got left,” Anderson said earlier in the Test. “But in the past three or four years, I’ve bowled as well as I ever have.” The problem is that the numbers in this series do not reflect that.

While the country will be willing Broad to find a fitting farewell today (Monday) to bring an England victory, it may be better if his mate steals the show, otherwise a low-key retreat from the big stage, a selectorial omission rather than an on-one’s-own-terms announcement, becomes an unpalatable possibility.

- The Times