England paceman James Anderson is optimistic that whatever happens in the upcoming Test series against Sri Lanka neither he nor captain Alastair Cook will feel as “crushed” as they did during the tourists’ 2014 triumph.
The teams begin a three-match series at Headingley in Leeds on Thursday next week, the ground where, two years ago, Sri Lanka clinched a dramatic 1-0 win in what was then the second of a two-Test campaign when Anderson was dismissed off the penultimate ball of the match.
“To get within two balls, I did feel crushed at the end of it,” Anderson said. “It had been a long game and we came so close.”
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England, thanks mainly to Moeen Ali’s maiden Test century, nearly saved the game having seen Sri Lanka cling on for a draw at Lord’s in London, but the damage at Headingley had been done on the fourth day when Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews made a superb 160 and, significantly, shared a stand of 149 for the eighth wicket with tail-ender Rangana Herath.
Cook’s tactically naive ploy of feeding Mathews runs in order to get at Herath backfired spectacularly.
The England skipper repeatedly stationed four men on the rope for the first four balls of an over, only for Mathews to respond by going on the offensive, with 16 of his eventual 25 fours coming off the final two balls of an over.
At the end of a draining match, Anderson had to choke back tears, while afterward Cook, whose approach was widely criticized, especially by Australia great Shane Warne, pondered resigning the captaincy.
However, Anderson feels the growing authority Cook has been given by England’s Australian coach Trevor Bayliss, who took charge for last year’s Ashes triumph, means there is no danger of his longstanding skipper letting a situation drift again.
“It was gutting really and hopefully we’ll not be in that situation again this time,” said Anderson, England’s all-time most successful Test bowler, with 433 wickets. “With a change of coach and a few different players in there as well, the last 12 months have been a real breath of fresh air.”
Anderson, 33, said he felt Cook’s increasing command had been evident during both last year’s Ashes win and the subsequent Test series triumph in South Africa, comparing the control the Essex opener now has in the dressing room to that of successful Australia captains Allan Border, Mark Taylor and Steve Waugh.
“I think Cooky’s done a fantastic job. Certainly since Trevor’s come in he’s taken more responsibility,” said Anderson, speaking at Lord’s on becoming an ambassador for Brut Sport Style. “He’s the guy that people look up to and he’s in charge. Obviously, Trevor’s given him that responsibility, so that’s been good.”
“All the teams I’ve ever played in it’s always been the coach at the forefront, so for the captain to be in charge, from what I hear that’s the way the Australians did it all the way through their success,” he said. “So yes, possibly he [Cook] is better equipped to deal with situations like that day against Sri Lanka now, but days like that aren’t just down to him, you need your bowlers to perform, senior players to step up and actually help out, and I think everyone just disappeared then into a hole in the field. It was everyone’s fault that day. So the way you get rid of situations like that is by the captain learning from those sorts of days and the players have to do that as well.”
Meanwhile, England stars Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow warmed up for next week’s first Test in record-breaking style as they shattered a host of Yorkshire records in their triple-century stand against Surrey on Monday.
Root finished the second day of the County Championship fixture unbeaten on 190, while Bairstow scored 198 as the pair put on a fourth-wicket partnership of 372 to help First Division champions Yorkshire reach 486-5 at Headingley.
Having joined forces at 45-3 early in the day, it took only 67 overs of blistering stroke play from Root and Bairstow to etch their names into the Yorkshire record books.
Yorkshire’s highest stand against Surrey, George Hirst and Ted Wainwright’s 340 at The Oval in London in 1899, was the first milestone surpassed, before they overtook Darren Lehmann and Michael Lumb’s 358, the all-time club best for a fourth-wicket stand just 10 years ago.
Eventually all but four of Yorkshire’s top partnerships under any category were all surpassed in a dazzling display that is heartening for England.
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