Ashes Profile – James Anderson

He has the voice of a 60 year old man who owns a whippet as he seems to have aged before his time. This miserable sounding complexion could be brought on by the constant need to have a dirty black cloud following him around from cricket ground to cricket ground while in England.

From the Aussie perspective, according to emails sent by Justin Langer he can also sometimes be found hiding under Graeme Swann’s floorboards.

He has also been given the daisy nickname for his erratic performances and many people (including me) have questioned his mental strength, my main gripe is that he never had a stock ball when batsmen got after him and he seemed to crumble under the pressure.

This has already been pointed out on this tour by Shane Watson, who said “There’s no doubt he’ll have some mental scars from the last series he played out here,” referring to Anderson’s record of 5 wickets at 82.6 the last time he toured Australia.

Overall his average against Australia is 56.17, against a 52 match career average of 31.75. The telling statistic for Anderson though is that he averages 27.13 in England and 43.84 overseas.

Further analysis of Anderson overseas, shows in 2 tests in India in 2008 he took 2 wickets at 53.50. In the same year he played 2 tests in New Zealand and picked up 8 wickets at 35.37

In 2009 he took 9 wickets at 38.00 in 4 tests in West Indies and on the tour of South Africa last winter he took 16 wickets at 34.25, a respectable return but far from world beating.

Thats why for me this tour should be the defining one of Anderson’s career. Will this be the one where he shows he isn’t just a one trick pony? Where he proves there is more to him than just swinging the ball in damp overcast dreary English conditions?

He had a brilliant (so called) summer in England against Pakistan, but throughout that series conditions suited the bowlers. He isn’t going to get that luxury in Australia.

So far so good on this tour, he’s had a good start and as a result has been excused Tasmania and is already in Brisbane getting prepared for next weeks 1st test. Looking at the Tasmania pitch on day 1, I think that is a good idea. The last thing England’s bowlers needed was to bowl on a green top like this and get lulled into thinking all is great, as Brisbane will be the exact opposite.

I’m one of the few that has not been convinced that Jimmy is the real deal. I have heard people saying he is world class, which is a view I don’t subscribe too. In typical English conditions he is one of the best bowlers in the world (maybe even the best), but for me that isn’t enough to be regarded as a proper world class performer.

I have always been a bit sceptical as to what he adds to the party when conditions don’t suit him. England waited years for him to come good and it is now time for him to show that he really is the man for the big occasion.

The real question for me is can he keep things tight when conditions don’t suit him? In the past he hasn’t had the control to keep a lid on things when a team have got after him, I await with interest to see if his bowling really has moved on that much and if he is strong enough mentally to handle the pressure.

Anderson is 3rd favourite in the betting to be England’s top bowler at a best price of 4/1 with Bet365 and VC Bet.