We won’t take it lying down this time around
ANDERSON SETS HIS SIGHTS ON INDIA AFTER KIWI DEFEAT
ENGLAND are hoping to take a giant bite out of India at Trent Bridge to make up for their toothless display against New Zealand in June.
But they will need to do so with the odds stacked against them in the shape of an Indian team for the ages, four first-choice players unavailable due to injury, a lack of red-ball cricket and starting today at a ground where they have not won a Test since 2015.
They are also in poor form after a 1-0 series defeat by the world champion Kiwis coming as a wake-up call for Joe Root’s side, who failed to find refuge in their home comforts after a difficult time on tour.
Yet, for all the mounting problems, this side should still find the inspiration they need at the start of five
Tests against a powerhouse of world cricket.
This series is the main event of the summer and one in which reputations and careers are made.
This is where English cricket gets its health check.
James Anderson said of his 19th international season: “For me, this summer has been quite stop-start, so I am looking forward to getting my teeth into a five-match series. “We know how good India are, and getting into five Test matches in six weeks can look like quite a lot, but it’s really exciting that we’ve got that amount of cricket coming up. We’re ready to get going and keen to improve from that New Zealand series earlier in the summer, where I don’t feel we gave a great showing of ourselves. “We can do much better than that. “It’s not ideal with lots of
other cricket going on that’s all been white-ball stuff, whether that’s county cricket or The Hundred. You have to be switched on, really focused for five days of hard graft.”
The sight of Anderson running in to bowl this week will be a reassuringly familiar one for England fans, with the prospect of another battle with Virat Kohli enough to whet the appetite.
If 2014 belonged to Anderson, with 25 wickets, then 2018 was certainly a personal triumph for Kohli, with two centuries and a 97.
Anderson said: “I’m excited to play against him again. You always want to challenge yourself against the best in the world and he’s certainly that.
“We know how big a player he is for them both as a batsman and as captain. He has a huge influence on that team.
“So we know he’s a big wicket and I don’t care if I get him out. As long as somebody gets him out, that’s the main thing.”
Ollie Robinson could be that man as he is set to resume his Test career following the fallout from his vile historical tweets. He will also be expected to line up in an antidiscrimination T-Shirt at the start of play that might weigh a little heavier on his shoulders this week.