Anderson fears days with Broad numbered

JIMMY ANDERSON wonders whether England will ever again employ his strike partnership with Stuart Broad that has brought more than 1100 Test wickets. Anderson hopes to be reunited with Broad using the pink ball under lights for the third Test in Ahmedabad, but fears their days together may be numbered. ‘It’s another tricky one to predict,’ said Anderson yesterday on the make-up of England’s pace attack on Wednesday. ‘We have so many good fast bowlers in our group now. Olly Stone was brilliant in the second Test, Mark Wood is back out here and if Jofra Archer is fit, we have a lot to choose from. ‘I love bowling with Stuart but it has crossed our minds (that they have played their last Test together). I just hope there will be times in a crucial match when they will need our experience. All we can do is try to stay in the best shape possible and if we do get the nod next summer or in the back end of the year, do our best.’

Anderson, 38, says the pink SG ball that will be used on Wednesday has been ‘swinging a bit’ in the nets but he expects none of the reverse swing that saw him make such a spectacular impact in the first Test before he was rested. ‘The pitch has got grass on it but I am pretty sure it won’t be there when we turn up,’ said Anderson. ‘If it turns out to be really abrasive, there might be a little bit of reverse.’

Meanwhile, India’s Rohit Sharma has defended the controversial second Test pitch in Chennai and India’s right to home advantage. ‘Pitches have been prepared like this in India for years,’ said Sharma. ‘Every side takes advantage of home conditions. When we travel people make it difficult for us.’