JIMMY’S STILL THE GREATEST
ANDERSON SHRUGS OFF PRAISE FOR ‘ORDINARY’ DISPLAY AFTER MASTERCLASS HELPS SEAL WIN
JAMES ANDERSON produced one of the great overs of reverse-swing bowling to lead England to an unforgettable win over India at Chennai, before downplaying his contribution in typical fashion.
The record-breaking Lancastrian was lauded as ‘the greatest’ by captain Joe Root but shrugged off the plaudits and insisted his magic over was nothing ‘out of the ordinary’.
England dominated the first Test throughout and were good value for their 227-run victory but were still indebted to Anderson’s superb spell on the final morning.
With his team chasing nine fifthday wickets to wrap up victory, having set India 420, the 38-yearold tore the heart from the innings in a five-over stint of three wickets at a cost of just six runs.
While Jack Leach spun his way to four for 76 as the hosts, unbeaten at home since 2017, were dismissed for 192, Anderson defied logic around the role of seamers on day five in India, as a wearing ball hooped in devastating fashion.
His first over of the day will go down as a stunning example of the art, sending the off stump somersaulting twice in four balls to usher Shubman Gill and Ajinkya Rahane back to the pavilion. Rishabh Pant was later beaten by an off-cutter from around the wicket.
Root, whose double century laid the foundations for this victory, repeated last summer’s refrain that Anderson was simply ‘the Goat (greatest of all time)’.
But after 158 Tests and 611 wickets, Anderson was happy to leave the superlatives to others.
‘I didn’t really do anything out of the ordinary from the plans we had,’ he said. ‘I was just lucky with a couple that hit the bare patches and a bit of reverse.
‘So there was a bit of luck involved as well but I was happy with how it went. It’s always nice to see the stumps cartwheeling out of the ground. It doesn’t happen very often at my age so I’m really happy with it.’
Root, however, was keen to sing the seamer’s praises after England’s sixth successive away victory, following three wins in South Africa last winter and two last month in Sri Lanka. ‘He’s just the ‘Goat’ I reckon, leave it there. He seems to get better all the time,’ Root said.
‘His skill level keeps improving, his work-rate is as good as anyone’s I’ve ever seen and his fitness levels are probably the best they’ve been. He’s a credit to English cricket.
‘When you’re under pressure and need something to happen, if you’ve got him in your armoury it’s a very comfortable position to be in.’
Asked to place Anderson’s first six balls in context, Root said: ‘It reminded me of Andrew Flintoff in 2005, the impact of that over to [Ricky] Ponting and [Justin] Langer. Big-game players stand up and do special things.’
Dom Bess, Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes took a wicket each and Root had a word for his whole attack.
‘It was a crucial toss and we posted a very good score and to take 20 wickets in alien conditions... huge credit to the bowlers,’ he said.