Jimmy Anderson: Swinging the English ball forward

Former English captain Bob Willis set a cat among pigeons a few days ago, accusing the English bowlers of tampering with the ball to achieve reverse swing. Outcries and denials poured from all fronts including a vehement one from the team’s bowling coach Ashley Giles and later on, from the man believed to be involved in the tampering himself: James Anderson.

Anderson’s outrageous-ness at being accused is in no way out-of-line or out-of-place. For after all, he’s managed to come a long way from being sneered and jeered at to become the leading wicket-taker for his country in ODIs, over-taking Darren Gough in the process. He’s been the go-to guy for his team for the past few years, developing a knack for picking wickets surpassed only by a few others.

His continued impressive form recently led the English bowling coach David Saker to pinpoint Anderson to be a far more ‘skilful performer’ than South African pacer Dale Steyn. These comments have, no doubt, come to be regarded as premature; no less by Anderson himself. But there’s no denying that Anderson is shouldering the responsibility of being England’s opening bowler quite impeccably.

In the Champions Trophy so far, Anderson has been the second-most successful wicket-taker and going by the looks of it, if England does make it to the finals, he’s most likely to finish the tournament as the leading wicket-taking bowler. His economy has been quite telling too. His most expensive spell in the Champions Trophy came against Sri Lanka, the lone match that England lost, where he picked up two wickets giving away 51 runs in the process.

England’s eventual strong finish at the top of the Group A table, in spite of that unforeseen loss, was mainly due to Anderson’s excellence in their rain-disrupted match against New Zealand. Bob Willis may have problems believing Anderson’s legitimacy in being able to achieve reverse swing early on in the match, but in spite of his misgivings, Anderson remains the bowler on whom the other teams rest their eyes with wariness.

It’s hard to believe that this is the same man whom the cricketing world had brushed aside a few years ago. The 20-year old Jimmy Anderson who made his international debut against Australia in 2002 bears little resemblance to the 30-year old who leads England’s bowling charge today. His unorthodox pattern of delivering the ball, with head bent and eyes closed, raised quite a few doubts – to put it mildly – and led to several attempts made to try and alter this inherent unconventionality.

The rough patch he endured that led to him being left out on several important tourneys, along with injuries that halted him for a substantial period, seem to have left an indelible mark on Anderson; making him a far more effective player than he was initially touted to be.

Anderson’s effectiveness only seems to get better with each passing match. His ability to deceive the batsman at crease to anticipate a certain kind of delivery, only to find it completely reversed, has paid off dividends to the Lancastrian. The fact that he’s able to utilise even the most difficult of pitch conditions to get good bowling figures only adds to his superiority. With a lot more cricketing action left in him, this superiority only promises to get better.

The ICC currently lists Anderson as the fifth best bowler in the world in the ODIs. It’s not a bad place to be for Anderson who’s also his country’s leading wicket-taker across all formats – Tests, ODIs and T20s combined. In all possibility, there’s even a strong likelihood of Anderson’s rankings ascending even further given his consistent form.

With just two matches to go in the Champions Trophy, England will be counting on Anderson to capture their first win in a 50-over top-tiered ICC event. Alongside the likes of Cook, Bell, Trott and Bopara, on whom the batting onus has rested so far, Anderson is the man on whom the English bowling hopes rest. So far he has not let the team down, rightfully taking over the reins from his most successful predecessor – Darren Gough. It’s a much gratifying and deserving position for a man of Anderson’s calibre. A position achieved after years of toil and sustenance of self-belief.