Anderson wants more Lord’s honours after five-wicket haul

James Anderson said that he hoped to be on the Lord’s honours board again in his Test career after his fivewicket haul helped England fight back on the second day of the second day against India.

England enjoyed an impressive day, taking India’s last seven wickets for only 88, with Anderson claiming five for 62 from 29 overs. Remarkably, it was his seventh Test five-for at Lord’s.

“To get seven here is just incredible,” Anderson said. “I do love it here. It seems to bring out the best in me. Hopefully it’s not my last time here or last time on the honours board.”

Anderson said that, at the age of 39, playing a Test at Lord’s still felt like a huge occasion. “It definitely is as special, yeah – every time you turn up and play at this ground it feels special. The last few times I’ve been here, you do think, is this the last time I’m going to play here?”

Anderson said that, despite being a fitness doubt before this Test, because of fears of an injury to his thigh, he felt at full fitness.

“I had a scan on my quad on Wednesday afternoon, a precautionary one because I had some stiffness. The scan was clear, I had a bowl and felt absolutely fine and I was declared fit.”

After a torrid first day after Joe Root had won the toss and inserted India, Anderson said that England were happy with their efforts on the second day.

“We sat down as a group and chatted overnight and this morning and we felt we hadn’t bowled particularly badly. India played really well, so we knew if we put in the same amount of effort and tried to concentrate on our skills, stick to the plans we had, we hoped we would get our rewards.”

Anderson said that England had tried to bowl slightly shorter yesterday, after, at times, overpitching and being driven on the opening day. “We got a bit of luck with that first wicket [KL Rahul], chipping one to cover, and from then on it was just a case of finding the right length without getting too full.”

After England slipped to 23 for two, an 85-run stand between Root and Rory Burns strengthened their position, before Burns fell for 49 shortly before the close.

“With the bat, I thought we applied ourselves really well, the partnership between Rooty and

Rory Burns was brilliant – a real shame to lose Rory right at the end of the day.

“I think we’re in a decent position. We have a lot of hard work to do, we’ve got to bat most of tomorrow if not all of it to get ourselves ahead of the game maybe. We’re pretty pleased with where we are.”

Anderson expressed his sympathy for Haseeb Hameed, who was clean bowled by Mohammed Siraj first ball in his first Test innings since 2016.

“It’s cruel sometimes, isn’t it? He’s worked incredibly hard, looked unbelievable in the nets.”