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ANDERSON ON SONG AGAIN AS DOUBLE STRIKE PUTS ENGLAND IN THE DRIVING SEAT
Eight balls was all it took. A week after looking so fed up with life that he had to quash rumours of his retirement, James Anderson purred to the crease as if it had all been a lot of fuss about nothing.
the ball swung into the lefthanded Shan Masood and struck him on the front pad with such finality that he was almost on his way before umpire Michael gough confirmed his fate.
On a day when Pakistan limped to 126 for five between the southcoast showers, the return of Anderson’s mojo — he later added the wicket of Azhar Ali, his 592nd in tests — was the best news Joe Root could have wished for.
if England can make short work of Pakistan’s lower order, they will be a decent first-innings total away from taking control of the series.
For the moment, they were just grateful that Anderson’s pursuit of 600 wickets and beyond was back on track. in truth, it probably always was.
On this evidence, he remains 38 going on 28.
it helped that Azhar had chosen to bat, as he did in Manchester last week, when Pakistan spent most of the game on course for victory. But morning sunshine soon gave way to dark grey skies and the mugginess of nearby storms. the kind of conditions, in other words, on which Anderson has built his renown.
Not everything went England’s way. Dom Sibley and Rory Burns each dropped Abid Ali in the slips, on one and 21 respectively, allowing the Pakistan opener to reach 60 — gold dust in the gloom. And Stuart Broad was deprived of a wicket when only Root appealed for a catch behind against Azhar. Snicko suggested a tremor.
But the catches began to stick — Sibley and Burns each atoned — as Pakistan’s batsmen fell to a series of prods and pokes, and 78 for one became 120 for five before the weather closed in for good shortly before 5pm.
Only a few days ago, the vicissitudes of cricket had been in danger of closing in on England’s all-time leading wicket-taker.
he had cut an angry figure at Emirates Old trafford, where match figures of one for 97 were his worst in a home test for four years.
the healing process began three days before this game, when he admitted he had let his emotions get the better of him.
he had, he said, got the irritation out of his system. Sensing a man with a point to prove, England wanted him straight back in the saddle. the decision proved spot on.
After an exploratory first over including a set of four leg-byes, Anderson quickly found his groove against one of his favourite opponents.
Masood, it’s true, should have been Pakistan’s match-winner in the first test after his first-innings 156, but this was the seventh time he had fallen to his nemesis and the fourth time for a single.
Pakistan would have been six for two had Sibley not spilled Abid in the next over, from Broad.
the ball was heading for Burns at second slip but all summer the experts have feared England’s cordon is too compressed and Sibley reached across him from third, spilling the chance.
third slip is normally Ben Stokes territory but he is absent on family matters — and, in any case, missed a similar chance in Manchester.
When Burns put down Abid in the 14th over, this time off Chris Woakes, it seemed England’s recent incompetence in the slips was catching up with them.
Not long after lunch, however, Anderson persuaded Azhar into a lame dab outside off stump, and this time Burns held on low to his right. thunder rolled in the distance, as if in homage — though not for Azhar who, on his fourth test tour of England, looks no closer to cracking the conditions than he did in his first.
Anderson was now clocking 87mph and Pakistan unravelled. Sam Curran, back after missing the last two tests, found bounce and movement to have Abid edging into Burns’ midriff.
When Broad had Asad Shafiq caught low down for five by a relieved Sibley, it was 117 for four — and England’s old firm had exactly 1,100 test wickets between them.
in his first test appearance since November 2009, the 34-year-old left-hander Fawad Alam briefly had time to display an extraordinary stance, which began with an open-chested glare down the pitch, before a swivel to his left just before delivery. With the help of DRS, Woakes pinned him leg-before for a fourth-ball duck.
the collapse vindicated the decision of Root and Chris Silverwood to go in with their four classically English seamers, and pass over the fire and brimstone of Jofra Archer and Mark Wood.
An unsettled forecast persuaded captain and coach to go with swing and seam, though an even bolder move might have been to leave out off-spinner Dom Bess, who bowled none of yesterday’s 45 overs.
No matter. if Anderson continues to lead the attack as he did here, everything else will be mere details.