Anderson forced to wait a little longer for milestone
ONE more day to go, one step closer.
James Anderson has one day of Test cricket left in 2020 to reach 600 Test wickets, as rain and bad light restricted day four to just 56 overs of play. What there was was enough for Pakistan to make it to 100 for two in their follow-on innings, whittling England’s lead down to 210. And Anderson moved from 598 to 599.
In truth, he should already have the milestone, and he and the rest of the England side may rue that they could have toasted a remarkable accomplishment by the time play was paused for bad light at 6.32pm and abandoned 12 minutes later when the rain came, just as it did to curtail the first session to a 12.30pm lunch.
Just 4.3 overs into play, Anderson once again baffled Shan Masood into an edge. However, Jos Buttler, a bucket on Sunday, was a sieve yesterday, letting the ball clunk into his thigh rather than nestle into his gloves. A ninth opportunity to bag Masood’s wicket went begging, but the chance to move to 599 with most of the day to go was gutting.
That was the fourth drop off Anderson’s bowling in 37 deliveries bowled, with three in 10 in the first innings that, mercifully, did not prevent him from wrapping up a 29th five-wicket haul.
In the 155 Tests leading up to this one, he had never had four catches dropped in a single match.
But if you are tempted to wag the finger at Buttler, Rory Burns, Zak Crawley or Stuart Broad for their errors here, maybe save some of that ire for the 86 other catches shelled off Anderson (left) during his career.
Nevertheless, 599 would eventually come via the pads of Abid Ali, who fell away to the off-side in late spell of reverse swing from Anderson. The opener, who had 42 at the time, was part of a 39-run, 26.1 over stand with captain Azhar Ali, who were frustrating everything England had to throw at them.
But beyond the penultimate scalp, Abid became the first of Anderson’s 14 dismissals this summer to come in an opposition’s second-innings. As questions are being asked of the 38-year-old’s durability across five days, let alone a packed 2021 schedule, it was a useful column to tick.
Broad would be the one to get Masood, the first wicket of the Pakistan follow-on innings— number 514, if you were wondering — trapping him in front with a delivery that the left-hander thought was going across him. Masood was not wrong, but the clip of his back pad was enough for umpire Michael Gough to decide it prevented it from hitting off stump. A DRS review agreed, albeit on umpire’s call.
Amid a frustrating day was an injury picked up by Ollie Pope just eight balls in. The 22-year old chased down a shot to third man and put in a dive that ended up jarring his left shoulder.
He was checked at lunch and later in the day and, as a result, saw England’s reserves stretched with 44-year-old Paul Collingwood, the assistant coach, donning whites to run drinks on throughout the day.
This morning, though, all eyes will be back on the man six years younger.
England head coach Chris Silverwood is willing Anderson to
finally chalk up his 600th wicket.
“It would be fantastic if we could do it. I want to win the game first and foremost but to finish strongly and see Jimmy get his 600th would be fantastic,” he said.
“We’re all aware of the milestone Jimmy is looking at but he’ll get there. Hopefully we’ll see it (today).
“It would be brilliant to see Jimmy get over the line. We’ll wake up in the morning, have a look out the curtains to see what’s out there and, if we get an opportunity, we’ll go for it.
“For the guys to come out and put their best foot forward and finish in the same way we’ve played the last two series would be nice. I’m very proud of how they’ve handled themselves, being locked up for the best part of 10 weeks in the bubble — their attitude and effort during that time has been fantastic.”
There is little that has not already been said in tribute to Anderson, who has built a 17-year body of work that may never be matched, but as a player who laboured hard for the 11 Test wickets he achieved Silverwood’s appreciation runs deep.
“He’s an inspiration, isn’t he? 600 Test wickets...wow,” he said.