GEORGE DOBELL: While younger pretenders are falling by the wayside with injuries, he’s still charging in, he’s still learning and he’s still trying to unlock batting line-ups with his skill. He’s still loving it, too
There’s an episode of The Simpsons where Homer is thrown out of an all-you-can-eat seafood restaurant as they fear his greed will bankrupt them. He subsequently drives around until 3am looking for another all-you-can-eat seafood restaurant. And then he goes fishing.
James Anderson can, perhaps, understand such an insatiable appetite. Not for seafood, perhaps. But for cricket.
For here we are, a couple of months short of his 40th birthday and he’s still doing what he’s done every year this century: trying to win games of cricket with his bowling.
While younger pretenders are falling by the wayside with injuries, he’s still charging in, he’s still learning and he’s still trying to unlock batting line-ups with his skill. He’s still loving it, too.
Many cricketers decide that, if England recognition is beyond them, they will call it a day. But Anderson is different.
After a period of introspection following the decision to omit him from the Test squad which toured the Caribbean – a period in which he admits he reflected on his hunger to endure another pre-season and his behaviour in the England dressing room – he has recommitted himself to not just regaining his place but playing on for Lancashire even if that proves beyond him.
It’s not going to prove beyond him though, is it? We are speaking the day after he has bowled Joe Root through the gate on a flat wicket in Lancashire’s LV= Insurance Championship match against Yorkshire. Despite the prevalence of flat pitches and flat balls – more on that later – he is still averaging under 20 with the ball this season.
Firstly, let’s talk about that wicket. Root had, of course, been party to the decision not to take Anderson on that Caribbean tour. And we all know how that worked out, don’t we? So did Anderson give him a send-off?
"Absolutely not," he says in mock horror. "I didn’t need to." Then, after the perfectly timed pause… "just pick the two stumps off the ground…"
And that’s Anderson in a nutshell. He doesn’t really need to press his case with words, does he? Because he’s taken 640 Test wickets and more than 1,000 in first-class cricket.
Anderson is loving life back in county cricket (Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
Later in the conversation, he’s asked if he would reflect on the lengths he bowled in Australia (Root suggested, at the end of the Adelaide Test, that England’s seamers had pitched a little short) and he again suggests maybe his figures should do the talking.
"I think I bowl a good length," he replies. "I find it hard when you've got a certain amount of wickets… I've done that through bowling the right length on the right wicket. I think I've got quite good at that. But obviously, I'm open to suggestions if anyone wants to help…"
If the final sentence feels sarcastic, it is probably with good reason. While he’s clearly keen to move on from ‘that’ decision, he is also clearly still hurt by it. And hurt is the correct word. Not annoyed, offended or broken.
"I don't think from a performance point of view my confidence would have taken a knock," he says.
"I felt like I bowled well in Australia and since I've been bowling back in England, I've felt like I was in good shape and bowling well. From that point of view, I feel like I know what I'm doing and I don't feel like that'll change, really.
"But I guess you do start questioning other things when that sort of thing happens. Is it something I've done around the group or whatever else? I guess that's the one thing you start thinking about.
"I definitely questioned it [whether he wanted to carry on], yes. But I think the longer time went on, the more I just, you know… I was still with the Lancashire lads doing pre-season training. I was still doing the gym work. And I wasn't bored of it. I wanted to be there doing it.
"Irrelevant of what was going to happen in the summer, I wanted to start the season with Lancashire. I felt like it was something I really wanted to do.
"And still you know, the squad has not been picked yet. So we're just waiting to see what happens with that. So but at this point, I'm really enjoying playing cricket. If I play the whole season for Lancashire, then great. If I get a Test call up, then brilliant.
Anderson was speaking at LV= Insurance’s announcement of support for 4,000 grassroots cricket coaches through the #Funds4Runs initiative
"But at the minute I'm really enjoying playing cricket. I quickly decided I did want to see what happened this year. I talked it through with my family as well, and they saw it as I did: I feel like I've got more to give to the game. Whether it's for Lancashire or England, I still got the ability to take wickets and I want to keep doing that.
"I love bowling. I've loved the last few games. It's been so much fun. We have a great set of lads who want to win competitions and I love winning games of cricket. I enjoy other people's success as much as having success myself and having that camaraderie.
"I think that's probably the thing I'll miss the most when I do eventually finish is the dressing room environment and not seeing people every day, it's something I really enjoy. I would happily carry on playing for Lancashire at present."
It may surprise some – you know the sort; those who still doubt him despite all those wickets in all those conditions – that he says he is relishing the flatter wickets in the county game this season. It separates the wheat from the chaff is his basic view. And he dismisses any suggestion that he watched the Test series in the Caribbean and felt relief at not having to operate on the lifeless surfaces which dominated it.
"Absolutely, yes [it does show who can cut it at Test level]. I don't mind how flat the wickets have been. The balls have been an issue because they're not swinging, they’ve been going out of shape and soft in 10 overs.
"So that then does tip the balance a little bit more in favour of the batsman. But I'm all for flat wickets. I think we've had some really exciting games this year.
"There are so many batters out there that are getting runs at the minute who look in really good shape. That comes from the confidence of trusting the pitch and knowing that if you bat for a long period of time, you can get runs, that's what any batter in the world needs: the confidence to be able to do that.
"As a bowler, you've got to think of other ways of getting wickets. You can't just rely on landing enough balls on the right spot and it'll do something.
"That's not the case on a flat wicket, you need to think of ways to get other ways of getting wickets, whether it's bouncers or different fields or using the crease a little bit more. You've got to think about a little bit more about actually how you get wickets so I think it's great for everyone.
There is little doubt about Anderson next target - a Test recall (Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
"It's been flat for the last 20 years in the Caribbean. It's the same as the Yorkshire game: I felt like I could win that game for Lancashire on a flat wicket. As a bowler, you've got to think like that. You can't think 'I'm glad I didn't play on that one because it was a bit too flat'. As a cricketer, you want to be the one to put in the hard yards and take the wickets. Getting people out on a flat wicket actually gives you more of a sense you've achieved something. Anyone can take wickets on a green seamer.
"There's obviously something wrong with the balls. Everyone's said it: the umpires around the country have said it; all the teams. There are rumours something's going to change for the next round of county matches so let's just hope the next batch is a good one."
Anderson, speaking at Test partners LV= Insurance’s event in Leicester announcing support for 4,000 grassroots cricket coaches through the #Funds4Runs community initiative, is bullish about the overall quality of the county game – "I've seen a lot of ability on show," he says, "both with bat and ball" – but he does have an intriguing suggestion to close the gap with Test cricket.
"If we'd have had five days, we'd have had results or very, very close games in all our games this season,” he says. “If you're going to produce pitches like this, I know you can't do it with the amount of cricket we've got at the minute, but it would be interesting to see whether that – five-day games - would be something that could happen."
So, back to that Root wicket. He bowled arguably the best first-class batter in world cricket at present, on a flat surface when he was battling to save the game.
"The thing I like about it the most is it's a good ball," he says. "And he was their best player and we were pushing for a win. It was wobble seam. It wasn't intended to reverse, but it's definitely drifted in. But yes, I've watched the video a few times."
James Anderson: still producing jaffas and still taking pride in them just short of his 40th birthday. Catch him while you can. It can’t last forever. Can it?
James Anderson and other England cricketers surprised Leicester Electricity Sports Cricket Club during an inter-squad friendly game organised by Test partners LV= Insurance. The club will receive support to train a new coach and relaunch their women’s team as part of LV= and the ECB’s commitment to support 4,000 coaches through their #Funds4Runs community initiative. Visit https://www.lv.com/gi/cricket-funds4runs for more information
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