JIMMY IS SEVEN A DAY WONDER
Anderson’s greatest-ever figures help England seal West Indies series victory
IN the end, West Indies simply could not live with Jimmy Anderson. But then, on the last day of a home Test summer i n which he has bowled like a magician, Garry Sobers, Viv Richards and Brian Lara might have struggled.
Not content on Friday evening with becoming the first England bowler to take 500 Test wickets, Anderson spent the first half of Saturday chiselling out figures of seven for 42. By a single run they were the best of his career, which is a bit like saying Roger Federer has just nailed his best-ever backhand.
His spell contained all the tricks of his trade, plus a bit more. In an era of big bats, flat pitches and short boundaries, here was a one-man retort.
England’s top order ensured his artistry would not go to waste, knocking off 107 for the loss of Alastair Cook to secure a ninewicket win, and a 2-1 series victory that has been harder work than anyone imagined possible.
And so the Wisden Trophy is the property of Joe Root, who finishes his first season as Test captain with a pair of series triumphs, comprising five victories and two defeats. It’s a ratio he will settle for in the years ahead.
His mood, though, will be one of relief as much as elation. Defeat at home to a Wes t Indies team ranked eighth in the world would have provided Australia with a full set of bragging rights ahead of the Ashes. And, after England had steamrollered 19 wickets in a day to win the first Test at Edgbaston, it would have ranked as one of the greatest upsets in history.
Anderson, though, was keen to keep writing his own. Obliged to bowl from his less-favoured Nursery End after twice being warned by umpire Marais Erasmus for running on the pitch at the Pavilion End the night before, he bowled as if he had changed nothing more than a pair of socks.
From the moment he had Roston Chase caught behind with the fourth ball of the morning to reduce West Indies to 94 for four — a lead of just 23 — he located the groove he has scarcely left in a summer t hat has brought him 39 Test wickets at 14 apiece.
Only Jim Laker, during his annus mirabilis of 1956, has claimed more victims for England in a home season. Those who complain that Anderson isn’t the same force abroad should focus their energies instead on cherishing a genius.
Next on his list was Jermaine Blackwood, who should have been caught by Stuart Broad at mid-off for two, but was instead caught behind by Jonny Bairstow for five, fending at one that went down the slope. Toby Roland-Jones nipped in to get rid of West Indies wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich, flapping to mid- on. But the Anderson show resumed after lunch with a beauty to kiss the bat of Shai Hope, who had added a high- class 62 to his stunning pair of hundreds at Headingley.
Hope was accompanied off by the goodwill of Lord’s, who know a future star when they see one. If his curve continues in an upwards trajectory, all is not lost for the Caribbean game.
More than any, the wicket of Hope explained why some feel that Anderson should bowl more often at the Nursery End, where his natural swing away from the righthanders is exacerbated by the Lord’s slope.
Anderson has always preferred the Pavilion End, possibly because it helps him take the ball away from the lefties. However, on this form he could bowl on a cabbage patch from the garden shed end and still be a handful.
With Hope went West Indies’ l ast serious ambition of setting England a tricky fourth-innings chase. And the lead was still 84 when Devendra Bishoo was eighth out, bowled second ball by Anderson as he groped at one of fuller length. Jason Holder has led his side with dignity and aplomb ever since the surrender at Edgbaston, but after he pulled Broad to mid-on — Anderson, naturally — the man of t he moment returned t o bowl Kemar Roach with one last peach and wrap up the innings for 177. As Fred Trueman might have said: ‘It were wasted on thee.’
That wicket left Anderson with 506 in Tests at an average of 27.39, a figure he has not bettered since the fifth of 129 appearances, way back in his debut summer of 2003.
Most 35- year- old fast bowlers show si gns of winding down. Incredibly, Anderson appears to be cranking up. Next on the list is West Indian legend Courtney Walsh, on 519, and then Australia’s Glenn McGrath, on 563. Beyond that lie only the trio of spin-bowling greats, Anil Kumble, Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan — the latter with 800 Test victims.
What followed Anderson’s latest masterclass was a procession. Cook fell lbw to leg-spinner Bishoo’s first ball of the Test for 17, but Mark Stoneman and Tom Westley had one final crack at impressing the selectors ahead of the Ashes.
In Stoneman’s case, an unbeaten 40 probably confirmed what they already suspected — that he is a solid if unspectacular opener who has the temperament to succeed.
In Westley’s, an unbeaten 44 ended a sequence of five singlefigure dismissals, but that might still prove to be too little, too late to earn him a trip to Australia. If he batted more freely than he has done all summer, then he also faced little pressure.
England’s next Test, at Brisbane’s merciless Gabba on November 23, will be rather different. And their fielding will have to i mprove quickly ahead of the Ashes series: of the 25 drops in this series, they were guilty of 15.
But, for now, after the shock of Headingley, they can wallow in the joy of Lord’s — and be grateful they possess the greatest swing bowler the game has known.