Atherton: James Anderson is back in New Zealand where his career bloomed in 2008
The storied career of James Anderson was re-born in New Zealand in 2008. MIKE ATHERTON reflects on the making of Anderson as he returns to play the Black Caps.
James Anderson remembers that Brendon McCullum was “fuming” at the time. McCullum, then New Zealand’s wicketkeeper, wasn’t the only one around these parts who couldn’t understand why, in March 2008 during the series against England, Auckland Aces had seen fit to give a reserve seamer from Lancashire a chance to knock the rust off before the second Test in Wellington.
Anderson, at this point, was struggling to break through as a Test match bowler. He wasn’t selected for the opening Test of that series in Hamilton and when Auckland rang England with an SOS to see whether they had anyone who could help out in an emergency, Anderson leapt at the chance to play some cricket rather than carry the drinks. He now describes that as one of the best decisions of his career.
They can laugh about it now, McCullum and Anderson, but that one-off first-class match in New Zealand’s domestic cricket competition was the springboard for what has become one of the greatest Test careers English cricket has known. Having bowled a lot of overs for Auckland in that game, Anderson was ready to go when Peter Moores decided to move on from Steve Harmison and Matthew Hoggard.
Anderson played the next Test in Wellington, took seven wickets in the game, including five in the first innings, and hasn’t looked back since, taking 606 more Test wickets in 156 games after that. No wonder New Zealand, and that particular tour, holds a fond place in his heart, and for Stuart Broad, who joined him in the team at exactly the same juncture.
“We’ve both got fond memories of being here,” Anderson said yesterday (Monday), feeling quite at home in the pouring rain. “Wellington was a big turning point in both our careers. I’d played quite a bit before then, but it did feel like a line-in-the-sand moment where we took over from Steve Harmison and Matthew Hoggard. We’ve tried to build on that, and took confidence from it.”
The uniting of Broad and Anderson was also the springboard for a rare series win here. England won the next two Tests in Wellington and Napier in 2008 but, remarkably, haven’t won a Test match in New Zealand since. After the series win in Pakistan before Christmas, the first there for more than 20 years, winning in New Zealand for the first time in 15 years would represent a significant winter double.
It’s become a tough place to win. “The Kiwis are very, very strong. They are a very good team, strong in all departments and even better in their own conditions. You’ve got to play at your best otherwise you’ll get found out. We’re expecting a really tough series,” said Anderson of the two-match encounter that does not form part of the World Test Championship, but will act as a precursor for the Ashes in June.
New Zealand will be the first team to play against a McCullum and Ben Stokes-inspired England for a second time, having been whitewashed 3-0 by them at the start of last summer, when the transformation began. Will that mean they will be better prepared for the onslaught? Will they tackle things differently? They, too, are under new leadership, with Tim Southee having taken over from Kane Williamson.
New Zealand’s preparation has been more disrupted than England’s, because of cyclone Gabrielle. They were still five players short yesterday (Monday), with Blair Tickner and Will Young planning to drive from their home town in Napier, owing to a lack of flights, and Henry Nicholls delayed in Christchurch after a cancelled flight. Tom Blundell was in Wellington, having just welcomed his second child, and Matt Henry was in Christchurch awaiting his first.
Still, there was no outside practice to be had in any case yesterday (Monday) because of the weather. Grass nets could be had under a giant tent-like structure, and, in preparation for the worst of the storm, four tractors were parked on the ground sheets covering the pitch so that the covers would not blow away. Mount Maunganui is said to have the fastest draining outfield in the country, so if the storm subsides in time, not much play should be lost.
Anderson is confident England have the bowling resources to win here, and, like Harmison and Hoggard before him, is now the elder statesman with younger pretenders snapping at his heels. With Mark Wood, Jofra Archer and Olly Stone all fit again (Wood and Archer are not here), Anderson said: “It feels like we’re building up a real good bank of fast bowlers that will be able to win games in any conditions anywhere in the world. So it’s exciting.
“Whether they’re young or old, they always keep you on your toes. At the minute Ollie Robinson’s probably one of the best bowlers in the world for me. He just doesn’t miss, can swing it both ways, nips it, gets bounce. He’s comfortably the one bowler that the guys don’t want to face in the nets. Just about everyone keeps you on your toes and it keeps those standards really high.”
Nobody epitomises those standards more than Anderson, who, at 40 years of age, is now only 33 wickets shy of Shane Warne. Can he pass Warne this year, with eight Tests to play? “Eight Tests is a lot for a fast bowler to play. We’ve seen over the past few months I’ve missed games through injury and been rested. With the amount of cricket we play, we’ll have to rotate the bowling attack. I won’t think too much about that, just get my head down and work hard in these next two games – if I get picked.” Don’t bet against it.
Originally published as Atherton: James Anderson is back in New Zealand where his career bloomed in 2008
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