James Anderson – a legend?

The domination of poor Indian and Sri Lankan teams over two summers has certified his brilliance. But then, there was the Ashes 2010-11, a series that made him a great.

Let’s put things into perspective: 117 Tests for England, out of which 67 are at home. He has taken close to 460 wickets in Test cricket, in which 291 were snaffled in favourable and familiar conditions. The naysayers have reason to reject James Anderson, when the talk is about all-time greats; all the more reason being the fact that he does not feature in the other formats anymore. To analyse greatness with numbers that a cricketer has accumulated toiling for years is certainly the most basic of norms, but if it is the case of Anderson — the master of seam and swing — there are some exemptions to be made. FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: Pakistan vs England 2016, 3rd Test at Edgbaston

The list certainly begins with the fact that there is Test cricket every English summer, and Anderson, who has not played ODIs since March 2015 and T20Is since November 2009, invariably features in almost all Tests at home.

And it is also not rocket science to deduce that England have successfully kept Anderson away from the ill effects of the shorter formats. The idea has been to preserve the best in Test cricket and it has indeed yielded great results. ALSO READ: James Anderson reaches 400 wickets: The story of the man who wasn’t there

Sometime in May every year, the spotlight of cricket lovers shifts from the razzmatazz of IPL to the English summer, with invariably a weaker Asian side or an easy series is there in offering for England. Tougher challenges — like the Ashes — are scheduled in the second half, obviously giving their most lethal weapon adequate time to get ready once again.

But wait. Anderson has still managed 194 ODIs — the second-most for an Englishman after Paul Collingwood — and with 269 wickets he is England’s most successful bowler in ODI cricket history. Bizarre, isn’t it?

Nevertheless, it is not always about how ECB proves to be the wisest of cricket boards among Big Three. It is not about what numbers Anderson has accumulated in his rather interesting career, or about how well England’s highest wicket-taker in 50-over has done in shorter formats.

White-ball cricket is not James Anderson’s game. That is not where his mastery lies.

From someone who would move the ball for a while and suddenly go back to being less than ordinary at the start of his career, Anderson has come a very long way. More than what modern day cricket’s thinkers have realised. More than what those watching from close distance have. While the cricketing world remained intrigued with how containment could be the way ahead for bowlers in ODI cricket, with the dynamics changing only for the batsmen, there was Anderson, trying to replicate the same in Test cricket.

Yes, that is right. That bowling dot balls could create such tremendous pressure in Test cricket that the batsmen will eventually succumb, is a mind game that Anderson wins almost every single time. Come to think of it, lack of runs on the board in modern day cricket where anything less than 300 is mediocre in ODIs will create a lot of pressure, even in Tests.

The pressure of dot balls resulting in no scores is bound to get into a batsman’s mind sooner or later. Then to another. To the third, the fourth, and then eventually to the team’s. Anderson thrives on dot balls. He wins these mental games almost every single time. This is why England keep winning at home.

It is not just the mental battle. Anderson’s homework is pretty solid. He began as an erratic blonde bowler whom Nasser Hussain found tough to handle. He even documented it. Till 2006, James Anderson was not James Anderson. He was always around, never the permanent feature. But when his time came, Anderson was more than ready to take things to a whole new level.

The precision came into his bowling. Blond hair was replaced by nicely-trimmed spikes. But bowling, at home, is what turned out to be his biggest strength. Fitness was among topmost priorities under Duncan Fletcher. While some got burly, others like Anderson got leaner, meaner, and of course, even more deadlier.

Swing and seam movements were always there. But consistency came with hard work and precisely doing what was to be done, that too with enough pace that belittled the best of batsmen. The domination of poor Indian and Sri Lankan teams over two summers has certified his brilliance. But then, there was Ashes 2010-11, a series that made him a great.

No touring side has laid emphasis on maintaining the Kookaburra as England did back then. Alastair Cook, whose job as England captain a few years later would later become easier with Anderson around, carried out the job of keeping the ball as new as possible. And those naysayers, who said Anderson cannot excel in opposite conditions Down Under — hard decks, a scorching sun and the Kookaburra ball — were left stunned with 26 wickets in Ashes 2010-11.

It will be fair to say Anderson is yet to get a quality batting line-up to bowl at in conditions that he thrives on at home. India, Sri Lanka, West Indies, New Zealand and Australia; they have been just blown away. Batsmen’s incompetency have been exposed such regular basis that it has all started to appear lame. Like a doctor who opens his clinic, perform daily tasks with utmost precisions, and shuts the shop by the evening to return the next time as ready as ever.

Anderson’s feats at home are well-documented and acknowledged. But what about elsewhere? The SG cricket ball is not known for swing much. But when Anderson toured India in 2012-13, there he was, making the famed Indian batting line-up feel they were playing in England. The touring team’s historic series win may have come on the back of India’s rebuilding phase, backfiring plans and out-of-form cricketers; no one can take away the fact that Anderson made the SG ball talking. After 7 Tests in India, Anderson is yet to have a five-wicket haul. But he still has a series win in India under his belt, just like three Ashes wins. This was his second tour of India. ALSO READ: James Anderson: The Burnley Express turns 32

Ashes wins. England’s meticulousness and sheer hard work, planning and execution won them the urn in 2010-11, but what went wrong in 2013-14? It was a series meant for demolition of England’s batsmen more than anything, why did Anderson fade away? Why did Anderson, like many of his teammates, just keep taking the pounding, the punches, and never gave anything back? Why did the idea of repeating the work ethics with the ball vanish? Why did Anderson and England stray from the road to success which they had already travelled once and achieved the result? Where was Anderson? Was he there at all? This was his third Australia tour.

Or else he would not have managed mere 7 wickets from 3 Tests in South Africa in 2015-16, a country where the remaining 5 Tests got him 18 wickets. To break it down even further, the 2009-10 tour of South Africa saw Anderson snaffling 16 wickets in just 4 Tests.

Let us come back to the good old question: what makes a bowler great? His consistency, or skills, or accuracy, or strike rate, or economy, or average, or ability to daunt the batsmen, or slaughtering them in favourable conditions at home? Anderson, certainly, fits in the final category.

What the numbers suggest is that certainly, impressive performances in one series cannot be the parameter, and that Anderson is as slow starter like any other modern day bowler. More often than not, Indian, Sri Lankan and even Australian bowlers have been looked at with contempt for their failures in England on first or the second tours. Is this fair?

Surprisingly, Anderson has an excellent record in the UAE. His team might have been pulverised both the times by Pakistan, but Anderson stood tall, with 22 wickets in 6 Tests. But then, what difference did these numbers make to England’s fortunes n UAE? They have been smacked on last two tours. Their batsmen, simply, could not stand their ground. So then why was someone like Mitchell Johnson harpooned for Australia’s abject surrenders in 2015?

What about verbal skills? Anderson, who, for years, kept attacking batsmen with his verbal barrage — one hand covering his mouth, so you cannot even lip-read what was being said — was all of a sudden in extreme anguish following a petty tussle with Ravindra Jadeja. He could have chosen to forget it. Jadeja did. Anderson did not. He claimed later he came out as a ‘different person’. All that drama was not needed, especially when neither party or their respective cricket boards or ICC, disclosed exactly what happened.

Anderson has turned 34. So far he has sailed past the likes of Ian Botham, Curtly Ambrose, Richard Hadlee, Wasim Akram, Shaun Pollock, Kapil Dev and a few more. With close to 460 wickets, he has some considerable distance to go past Courtney Walsh (519). Once that is done, he will look good to finish at least past Glenn McGrath (563). But the going will not be as easy as it has been in the last 2 years. The 5 Tests later this year in India could make or break a lot for England. And the next Ashes, an away series, will test England to the hilt. Surely, an ageing Anderson will face new set of challenges.

(Devarchit Varma is senior writer with CricketCountry. He can be followed on Twitter @Devarchit)

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