"I think it's tipped slightly towards white-ball cricket" - James Anderson wants the ECB to balance the two formats
England veteran seamer James Anderson has urged the ECB to strike a balance between white-ball and red-ball cricket. James Anderson's message to the board comes following England's humiliating performance in the ongoing Ashes.
England's Ashes campaign stooped to a new low in the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne as Australia bundled them out for 68 in the second innings. An innings and 14-run defeat at the MCG followed after heavy losses in Brisbane and Adelaide. With only two games to go, the visitors have a chance to restore some of their pride.
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James Anderson feels the ECB is focusing too much on white-ball cricket after the 2015 World Cup. The prolific wicket-taker observed that it's evident by the team's Test-match performances and added that he wants to see the two formats balanced.
Anderson stated, as quoted by The Telegraph:
"I think there has been a huge direction with white-ball cricket. A big push with that since 2015. I would like to think that maybe the balance between red and white-ball cricket is there, going forward. Because I think at the minute, it's tipped slightly towards white-ball cricket."
Anderson added:
"And it has done for the last few years. If you look at our performances in Test cricket over the last few years, they've been pretty inconsistent. So, from that point of view, we can hopefully just redress that balance a little bit."
England's lack of viable batting options in the format has been the biggest concern. Their batting unit has remained heavily dependent on Joe Root and crumbled in a heap in all three Tests.
"There is a lot of chat and noise around when you lose this convincingly" - James Anderson
Anderson admits conversations will crop up about England's performances as they have hardly improved. However, his immediate focus is on the last two Tests to avoid a 5-0 whitewash. The Lancashire-seamer added:
"It is hard, obviously there is a lot of chat and noise around when you lose this convincingly. It's happened before, unfortunately, I'm sure it will happen again. It's hard when you're in it, to start dissecting everything. We've got two games left that we really want to focus on. We don't want to start thinking about the whole domestic structure and whatever else."
The fourth Test starts on January 5 at the Sydney Cricket Ground.