NASSER’S JIMMY TRIBUTE
He’s unplayable in the right conditions
Life at Lord’s in Test cricket did not get off to the best of starts for Jimmy Anderson when i brought him on as england captain for his debut against Zimbabwe 15 years ago. He went for 17 off his first over…
i think we can say the home of cricket has been a considerably happier hunting ground for Anderson since then, culminating yesterday in the outstanding achievement of him taking his 100th Test wicket at Lord’s.
even back then in 2003 you could see we had a special bowler on our hands and what struck me from the very start was the late movement that he would get which would make him appear quicker than he was.
if anything i over-promoted him in those early days, like when i preferred him to Andrew Caddick to bowl that crucial over to Andy Bichel and Australia in the World Cup in Port elizabeth earlier that year.
Then when we came here to Lord’s i gave him a seven-two offside field with no fine leg because, knowing he swung it so much, i wanted as many close catchers as possible. Jimmy wasn’t comfortable with that so i changed it.
it was just that i always felt that as long as he could overcome those early injury problems, Anderson would go on to become england’s greatest ever bowler and i had such admiration for him from the start.
i once said i didn’t know what was going on in Jimmy’s head when i captained him but that was not meant as criticism. He always knew what he was doing and he always listened too, like when Duncan fletcher told the bowlers to bowl full to Mohammad Yousuf at the start of his innings in that same World Cup.
Anderson’s greatest skill has been changing from out-swinger to in-swinger with no discernible change in action and that is what he has been doing to such prolific effect in this second Test. And when conditions are in his favour, like on friday in the first innings here, he can be unplayable.
Look at the way he has twice dismissed Murali Vijay in this Test. He swung a beauty away to bowl him in the first innings which must have played on his mind in the second when Anderson took his inside edge instead.
even now people will still say Jimmy is only a force in english conditions but that does him a disservice because he has been a force away from home too. He has worked on his skills in different countries and has bowled beautifully. it’s just a fact that he will move the Duke ball more than a Kookaburra.
Just think how many wickets Anderson could have taken had he not missed a year with a serious back injury and had he not missed the whole of the famous 2005 Ashes success when england preferred other bowlers. i had not been long retired then and i would watch him that summer as a lad who had come in under my captaincy, out in the middle with bowling coach Troy Cooley during every interval and looking forlorn as he bowled at a cone.
i felt for him then but the fact that he came through that adversity and any other setback he has had, with injuries or loss of form, proved his immense character and the work he has put in to get where he is today.
Jimmy has always been a very different character off the field from the aggressive, in your face one he can be on it, but i think he has mellowed a bit this season. He seems to be enjoying his battle with Virat Kohli and speaks highly of the indian captain and the challenge of bowling at the best in the world.
Undoubtedly the fact that there are two Lord’s Tests each summer is a big reason why Anderson has reached his century of Test wickets here ahead of any other ground but history will also tell you that swing bowlers thrive here.
Jimmy is a great physical specimen as was proved by that 15-over spell at edgbaston. There’s no reason why he can’t go on for some time yet. i certainly hope so because we will not realise quite how good Anderson is until he’s gone.