BENJAMIN BUTTON DOES IT AGAIN!
Anderson, 38, takes three cheap wickets in sapping heat to keep England in game
Jimmy Anderson was last seen in the cold and wet of southampton last summer, claiming his historic 600th Test wicket. But he gave the same old sublime example of swing and seam bowling perfection in the extreme heat and humidity of Galle yesterday.
As stuart Broad led in the first Test, his old partner followed in the second — claiming three victims and providing a masterclass of bowling with a Kookaburra ball on a numbingly flat pitch.
And if Anderson was yet again the pick of the england attack on the first day, there was also a Herculean effort from mark Wood — who delivered that all-important extra pace and reverse swing with the old ball through 17 lungbusting overs.
Between them they bowled england just about to parity by the close of play, with Angelo mathews making his 11th Test century, and first at Galle, to lead sri Lanka to 229 for four after they had again won a crucial toss.
But england could do little more than they did on a day that gave them a searching examination of their bowling resources in the harshest of conditions, and should stand them in good stead for the four Tests in india that rapidly follow this concluding Test.
At the centre of it was the extraordinary figure of Anderson, the Benjamin Button of cricket, seemingly getting better and fitter at 38 and apparently as far away from thoughts of retirement as ever. even his hair is somehow looking darker these days.
Though once Anderson was thought of as a home specialist, he has long been as skilful and adaptable as any seamer in the world — as he showed here on a day when there was minimal movement through the air and off the pitch.
That did not stop him from taking two wickets in just his second over, helped by a quite hideous hoick from Kusal Perera, and then returning after lunch to claim Lahiru Thirimanne for the eighth time in nine Tests.
And all the while there was simply nothing loose for sri Lanka to exploit, Anderson conceding just six runs from his first nine overs for those three wickets and bowling 10 maidens out of his total 19 to give england control as well as penetration.
only in the field did he sometimes show his age, letting a mathews drive go through his hands for four at mid- on off dom Bess, then fumbling when mathews and dinesh Chandimal got into a mix-up and offered half a run out chance.
Bess, perhaps wisely, did not react as Anderson probably would have had the boot been on the other foot.
But this was england’s rotation policy working perfectly, with Broad having no complaints this time about being left out after bowling so well in the first Test because england need the variety overseas that an express bowler like Wood can provide.
There was a strong case for olly stone to play in Wood’s place, and england acknowledged before this Test that they will have to have a look at the Warwickshire man sooner or later to give him that all-important experience ahead of november’s Ashes. yet as soon as it became clear on Thursday that Wood was being rested for the first two Tests in india, it made absolute sense for him to play now — as long as england were convinced his fragile body could cope with demanding back-to-back Tests.
After all, Wood was unlucky not to play in more than one of the six Tests last summer, in much more bowler-friendly conditions than Galle, yet here he was accepting his role as an overseas specialist with his trademark good humour and selflessness.
How whole- hearted Wood ( left, with Anderson) was, consistently exceeding 90mph in three spells and ending up as red in the face as a manchester United shirt as he put in an incredible shift of eight successive overs before england took the second new ball.
There was finally a tangible reward for Wood, too, as he trapped stand-in captain Chandimal lbw with a bit of reverse swing made possible by the Galle outfield being drier than in the first Test, letting out a roar after taking his first wicket of the series.
if Anderson and sam Curran could then have made one or two inroads with that second new ball england would have been on top, with this pitch probably not likely to take spin until the third day at the earliest, but mathews and niroshan dickwella held firm.
mathews has long been a thorn in england’s side — not least with his 160 in sri Lanka’s famous victory at Headingley in 2014 that almost broke the captaincy of sir Alastair Cook.
And here he made his third century against england while never really looking in any sort of trouble, as spinners Jack Leach and Bess bowled with control but without assistance from the surface.
it was a day of Test cricket that lovers of the long game call intriguing and absorbing, but those of a more impatient persuasion think of as dull. But this was another of those first acts of what could well become another enthralling five act play.
And it is one in which england, chasing a fifth successive away win for the first time in more than 100 years, again showed they are very much an improving, versatile team. With the ever excellent Anderson at the heart of it.