SMELLS LIKE TEAM SPIRIT

Anderson: Atmosphere in dressing room under captain Stokes is best in my international career

JIMMY ANDERSON says the England dressing-room atmosphere under Ben Stokes is the best he has seen in 20 years in international cricket.

Just five months on from a nightmare Ashes tour, when morale hit rock bottom, a new partnership of captain Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum has transformed fortunes and sparked a 3-0 whitewash of New Zealand.

And it even has veteran Anderson fizzing at the prospect of being a part of a red-ball revolution for as long as his body and selectors will allow.

“It does feel unique and I have never been in a dressing room before when we have chased 300 on a pitch that is turning and everyone being so calm, believing we were going to chase them down.” said Anderson (second right, with his team-mates).

“After 20 years of playing international cricket, I had never seen that before.

“You always get a few jittery people but one to 11, and the staff included, were just calm and believed. That belief can go such a long way especially with our young players.

“Trying to develop their confidence and experience will do wonders for them.”

The 39-year-old bowler hopes to shake off an ankle injury for tomorrow’s postponed final Test of last year’s series against India having sat out the last act against the Kiwis which saw England cruise home.

And after playing a big part in wins at Lord’s and Trent Bridge, Anderson believes it is not only the batting which has benefitted from the new mentality Stokes and McCullum are pushing.

“It is a similar thing to the batting – there is just a real constant looking for wickets all the time,” he added.

“Just trying to take the positive option as much as we can – get catchers in the right positions..”

In contrast to England’s form, India come into the one-off Test on the back of one four-day practice game at Leicester last week.

And while they hold a 2-1 series lead, they may have to do without skipper Rohit Sharma who has tested positive for Covid, but will continue taking tests and could be available at Edgbaston.

Coach Rahul Dravid (above) insists India will be up to speed whatever their preparation. He said: “We are ready to play positive cricket against anything they can throw at us.”