EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

STATISTICALLY speaking James Anderson scaled the summit at The Oval when he became Test cricket’s most prolific seam bowler yet he insists he has not been at the top of his own game. Showered with praise he might have been since surpassing Glenn McGrath’s tally of 563 with the series-sealing wicket last week but the 36-year-old’s own assessment reveals being stung by snubs from Joe Root when India were on top and England needed a wicket.

So, as he t urns t houghts to preparing for a first Test assignment without his close friend Alastair Cook by his side in more than 12 years, it is a completely rounded performance rather than a round 600 that occupies them.

‘I have never been driven by milestones so that will never effect my decision on how long I go on for in my career,’ he said. ‘If I stay in the team it will be because I still get people out. This summer, I wouldn’t say I was outstanding, really. It’s nice to look back knowing I got over 20 wickets in the series, and to get nine wickets in a game, like I did at Lord’s, is something I get a buzz out of because that feels as though you have really contributed to the winning of it.

‘There were spells when I felt like I was bowling as well as I ever had but others not so much. As a perfectionist, I want to try to get those spells where I feel as good as I ever have to outweigh the not-sogood ones. That’s what I am going to keep striving for.

‘I like being the go-to bowler for the captain and there were times during the series when he went for other bowlers because they were bowling better than me at that time. They got the ball ahead of me and that made me realise there is still more to give.

‘Not just settling for a nice spell with the new ball and then coming back and not being as good with an older ball. I want every game to be as good as it possibly can be.’

The challenge in Sri Lanka this autumn will be to adapt to unforgiving conditions for the pacemen of stifling heat and grassless, docile surfaces. England’s form on the road has seen them win just one series in six years while Nasser Hussain’s team of 2000 is the only one to beat the Sri Lankans away.

Anderson said: ‘Part of the development of this team, if we want to be successful and get to No 1 in the world as we do, means that we have to win in different conditions away