Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
MOORES: JIMMY AND BROAD DON’T NEED EACH OTHER
IT WAS in Wellington in March 2008 when Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad first bowled in tandem for England.
Now, as Joe Root’s side prepare for the opening Test of their series against India in Chennai almost 13 years on, the pair have a combined total of 1,123 Test wickets between them. How often they appear in the same England side together over the next 12 months remains to be seen, with both given one Test each in Sri Lanka this month.
But Peter Moores (right), the former England coach who first paired them together for their country, believes that is no longer important – because both are now masters of their craft with or without the other.
“No-one could have imagined then that these two were going to become the iconic bowling pair for England,” said Moores.
“After Jimmy and Broady had bowled together for the first time, CMJ (former commentator and journalist Christopher MartinJenkins) came up to me and said, ‘I think you’ve just found your bowling attack for the Ashes’.
“I told him I was thinking exactly the same thing.
“It was just the way they bowled together, they fitted straight away.
“They complemented each other immediately.
“Stuart picks his knees up, runs in and gets up and over the top. Jimmy has that ability to deceive batsmen with his late movement. “They’re both aggressive in nature as bowlers too, which you need to be at Test level.”
Their qualities were very much back on display in Sri Lanka. Broad took three wickets in an opening burst that set the tone for the series. Anderson came in and took 6-40 in 29 overs in Sri Lanka’s first innings of the second Test, reminding everyone that his skills remain as sharp as ever.
“They are our greatest ever pair of fast bowlers, but they have both proved that they don’t need each other to be successful,” said Moores.
“Stuart is one of the greats. If Jimmy is the craftsman with his skills, then Broady is the bowler with tactical plans.
“When I came across him, he was a player who thought differently – he had a really clear picture of what he wanted to do and where he wanted to get to.”