Stir up James Anderson's nest at your own peril
On Day 3 at the Lord’s Cricket Ground, James Anderson strode out to the center, with Joe Root batting like a dream. The England skipper had notched up another massive hundred and seemed to be playing on a different strip altogether.
The brief for Anderson was pretty clear. He needed to stick around for as long as possible – something that would’ve helped Root accomplish greater milestones, and more importantly, enabled England to swell their lead.
Just as Anderson marked out his guard to confront Jasprit Bumrah, though, things took an unforeseeable turn. Bumrah, who had gotten the better of the left-handed batter at Trent Bridge with a searing yorker, was now aiming for Anderson’s head.
The Indian speedster immediately pinged the Englishman flush on the helmet, off the first ball that he bowled. A barrage of short deliveries followed and while Anderson eventually perished to Mohammed Shami on what proved to be the final ball on Day 3, the battle lines had seemingly been drawn.
Burmah’s speed had truly rattled Anderson and England, meaning that when the Indian came out to bat on Day 5, the hosts began targeting his body rather than making any attempts to get him out. Root, rather apologetically, quipped that emotion had gotten the better of England and that they had spurned the chance to nudge ahead in the series.
India, on the other hand, used the needle to spur themselves on to unparalleled heights – a crescendo that was achieved with Anderson, of all people, being castled to hand the visitors victory.
So when the caravan moved to Leeds, plenty of English cricket fans looked at the game in trepidation. Not only did they have to contend with one of England’s shakiest batting units in the 21st century, but they also had to do so against an Indian outfit that had the bit between its teeth.
Among the debris, it is easy to forget that Anderson, who has been labeled the antagonist or the protagonist based on personal allegiances, also took an enormous blow to his pride. After all, it was his comment that Bumrah was bowling “too fast” (only to Anderson) and that he was “cheating” that began the entire episode.
From that perspective alone, Anderson had plenty to prove at Headingley. While it seemed a touch ironic, considering the pacer is arguably one of the greatest Test bowlers to have ever lived and is the last person who has to “prove” anything to anyone, it was certainly a confrontation he would’ve been looking forward to.
And over the course of the first hour and a half at Leeds, the seamer showed exactly why jostling for elbow room against him - the forgotten hero/villain of the entire Lord’s narrative - was probably not the wisest move India will make this summer.
Throughout the opening couple of games, Anderson had been content to hang deliveries outside off stump and prey on the batters making mistakes. In a nutshell, that has been his method for a while, meaning that his average, in comparison to his strike rate, is significantly better when compared to contemporary greats.
James Anderson was brilliant at Headingley
At Headingley, though, Anderson opted for something vastly different. Not only did he angle a lot of deliveries into the batter, but he also used the out-swinger as the surprise weapon instead of it being the staple diet that he feeds batters.
The ploy immediately bore fruit, for KL Rahul, who has made a living this series by leaving balls, was enticed into a stroke that he ordinarily wouldn’t have indulged in. Rahul faced four deliveries against Anderson and the only ball that went away (that too off the seam) was the one that accounted for him.
A few overs later, the tactic outwitted Cheteshwar Pujara too. Anderson’s propensity to slant the ball into the batter before getting it to curve away from a similar line and length induced another false stroke. Though Pujara helped Anderson by prodding loosely, there was no doubting that the Englishman had comprehensively set up his opponent.
Against Virat Kohli, Anderson opted for a different modus operandi. Instead of using the out-swinger sparingly, he did so regularly, meaning that Kohli lined himself up and felt comfortable enough to drive at full-length deliveries. However, Anderson, owing to his genius, flipped the balance courtesy of his three-quarter (or scrambled seam) ball – a ball that seems to angle into the batter before seaming away.
Kohli produced one of his characteristic wafts and departed, with the Western Terraces reminding the Indian captain of exactly what had exactly happened as he walked back to the pavilion.
In isolation, Anderson’s spell on Day 1 at Leeds might seem just another masterclass that he has produced on English shores. At the time of writing, the pacer has scalped 399 wickets at home, with no other bowler even crossing the 350-wicket mark.
When placed into the larger context of what transpired at Lord’s, it was perhaps a retaliation from an extremely proud individual – an individual who felt that he needed to tell his own version of the after-effects of that particular story.
Interestingly, Anderson has recently developed a habit of shutting up his critics almost instantly.
At the start of 2021, there was a humongous hue and cry over England’s “rest and rotation” policy when the Three Lions toured Sri Lanka. Stuart Broad began the series and was rested in the 2nd Test, meaning that Anderson had a solitary Test to become England’s first-choice pacer for the rubber against India.
In the first essay itself, Anderson conjured figures of 6-40 on a surface that was quite conducive to spin bowling. Sri Lanka, in contrast, took all of England's first-innings wickets via the spin avenue – something that highlighted Anderson’s extraordinary effort. And at 39, Anderson had bowled 29 overs in the uncompromising Galle heat.
A Test later, Anderson tore India’s much-vaunted middle order into shreds in Chennai. With India only requiring to bat out the day to ensure a draw, the pacer produced a display of utmost class, getting the ball to talk as reverse-swing entered the fray.
He knocked over Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant and Shubman Gill in a sensational spell and set England on their way to an unprecedented victory, which considering their fortunes post that game tells a story in itself.
More fascinatingly, this particular sub-plot of Anderson being dubbed the pantomime villain by the Indian faithful hasn’t transpired well historically. Back in 2014, there was the infamous Anderson-Ravindra Jadeja tunnel incident at Trent Bridge – an event that seemingly received its closure when Jadeja ran Anderson out to seal victory at Lord’s a game later.
In the 3rd Test, though, Anderson came up with a Player of the Match performance. He sent 7 Indian batters packing and effectively tilted the series in England’s favor. For the uninitiated, the Three Lions thumped India thrice (twice by an innings) and won the rubber 3-1 – a score-line that flattered the hosts a shade, considering what had transpired at Lord’s and Trent Bridge.
Hence, there is enough to suggest that getting on Anderson’s bad books, especially in England, is perhaps not the wisest move.
Apart from being a little (read considerably) grumpy on the field, the pacer doesn’t really indulge in the kind of staring contests or verbal wars that define most modern-day fast bowlers. Instead, he lets the ball do the talking and when he does that, oh, he is incomparable.
Additionally, the veteran has the knack of denting the opposition at the start of the innings and has a habit of dismissing the best batters. This is something that happened at Headingley in 2021 and an aspect that usually sets the tone for everything good England accomplish in a particular Test or series.
Teams can stir up James Anderson’s nest, but at their own peril.
Though that doesn’t necessarily mean that England will waltz their way to a series triumph henceforth, it certainly makes their job a lot easier, especially if Anderson is bowling with such fire.
It is not the kind of twist India or their fans would have expected from this narrative, but there is plenty to hint that it was in the pipeline all along!