Modern-day great James Anderson might be 40 but the England fast bowler refuses to slow down. On a pitch that was a batting paradise in Rawalpindi, Anderson produced an impressive display to take five wickets across the two innings of the first Test against Pakistan to play a vital role in his team’s 74-run win.
And on the eve of the second Test as England eye an unassailable lead, Anderson surprised everyone by bowling, wait for it, left-arm spin, during a practice session on Thursday.
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A video was shared by BBC on Twitter in which Anderson can be seen having fun while turning from from a fearsome right-arm pacer to a wily spinner with his teammates watching in amusement.
England produced one of their greatest ever Test wins in Rawalpindi last week. Four of their batters struck centuries in the first innings as they ransacked 657 in 101 overs.
Pakistan replied well with 579-all out before England made a brave declaration at 264/7 to infuse life into the contest seemingly headed towards a draw.
And then chasing 343, Pakistan were bowled out for 268 with Anderson taking 4/36 from 24 overs of which 12 were maiden. His fellow pacer Ollie Robinson also took four wickets while captain Ben Stokes and spinner Jack Leach chipped in with a wicket each.
“It’s probably one of the best wins I’ve been involved in, if not the best. On a pitch like that, to play the way we did, to score the runs at the rate we did, we gave ourselves a chance of getting a result and I think we deserved to put ourselves in that position at the end of the game,” Anderson told Sky Sports after the match.
“Today, it was an unbelievable effort from everyone. We tried so hard to get the ball reversing and doing something, going off the straight, and we created enough chances to get the win. It was hard, but we knew it was going to be difficult.
“With Ben (Stokes) and Brendon (McCullum), their mantra is that we’ve got to take wickets and look to take wickets all the time. Even though they [Pakistan] got 500-plus in the first innings, we still felt with that lead that we had, the way we scored, we could set ourselves something to defend,” he added.
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