The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Anderson rejects big upheaval’ talk
Veteran bowler claims 4-0 Ashes series defeat was ‘not disastrous’
James Anderson insists there is no need for a “big upheaval” after England’s 4-0 Ashes series defeat.
The tourists’ unsuccessful campaign concluded in Sydney yesterday where they lost by an innings and 123 runs after being bowled out for 180.
It fell to Anderson to address the press in the absence of captain Joe Root, who was belatedly able to resume his attempted rearguard for only an hour up to lunch before retiring ill again on 58 with severe dehydration and then having to sit out the post-match ceremony.
Vice-captain on this tour in place of Ben Stokes – absent for other reasons – Anderson said: “It doesn’t feel like a series where there should be a big upheaval.
“It doesn’t feel like a completely disastrous series. (But) we’re hurting and we know we’ve got to improve.”
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We’ve known for a few weeks they’re going to lift the urn...seeing them do it in person was tough to watch. JAMES ANDERSON
Revisiting themes often voiced by Root over the past two months, he added: “We’ve just not capitalised on the key moments, making big scores, taking a couple more wickets that would get us on top.
“They’ve played the pressurised moments better than us, and when they’ve put the pressure on us we haven’t reacted very well.”
England’s problem has been sustaining peaks of performance – something at which their hosts have been highly adept.
“Getting to 60 and 70 with the bat is not good enough,” said Anderson.
“You’ve got to get big hundreds, as they have done. It’s all very well bowling well 15-20 overs, but the 25-30 overs can be key overs for a bowler – the periods when you have to stay at your best – and we haven’t done that.”
The bottom line is that, on three of
their last four Ashes tours, England failed to win a single Test.
Anderson, a veteran of all those campaigns as well as England’s glorious 2010/11 series victory, had to watch Australia celebrate again.
“We’ve known for a few weeks they’re going to lift the urn, but seeing them do it in person was tough to watch,” he said.
“There’s not a lot we can do about it; we’ve not played well enough, and they deserve to win it.”
He remains full of admiration for Root. “He’s not had any sleep, he’s not eaten, he’s had diarrhoea and he’s been vomiting ... so I guess he’s not in great state.
“To get to the ground was a great effort, and to strap his pads on and bat for as long as he did showed exactly what sort of person he is.”
England’s all-time leading wickettaker is hoping, at the age of almost 37 by late summer 2019, he will be back to help Root in an Ashes rematch at home.
“I’m going to do everything I can to be available. I don’t pick the team – I can’t say I’m definitely going to be there.
“(But) I’m hungry to be there, still as hungry as ever.
“I’ve never really looked too far ahead, but I’d really like to be around in 2019.”
Root’s opposite number Steve Smith could reflect with huge satisfaction on a series he has helped to dominate with his prolific haul of 687 runs -–but he too is already looking forward.
“This team has been magnificent this series,” he said.
“The more we play together the more we will get better. England in 2019 is a long way away, but it’s a real challenge for us as well. A bucket list of mine is to win an Ashes series in England.”
Australian batsman Chris Lynn will miss the forthcoming one-day international series against England because of a calf injury.
England have dropped to fifth in the International Cricket Council Test rankings after their Ashes misery.
Joe Root’s tourists had entered the series in third place in the standings, with Australia fifth, but the teams have now swapped positions.
The heavy nature of England’s defeat means they drop below fourth-placed New Zealand in the latest update.
India sit at the top of the table, while their current opponents in a three-test series, South Africa, are second.