Time’s up! Is this the end of James Anderson?
James Anderson is having a quiet time with the ball in the ongoing home season as the veteran pacer managed to claim only six wickets in five innings. Anderson turned 38 last week only and there are doubts if the legendary paceman has reached the time of hanging his boots. The strength of Anderson remains bowling at home in which he hasn’t been up to the mark of late.
The numbers game
Anderson’s Test bowling average in the current season reads 35.5 which is his 2nd worst in a home season in the longer format. In 2007, Anderson had a home average of 35.57 which was the only other season where he averaged 35+ with the ball at home. In the current situation, Anderson’s absence might not affect England to an extent with the emergence of Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, Sam Curran and Chris Woakes.
With Stuart Broad’s experience already there to guide the new crop of bowlers, the English team could follow rotation policy like they did in the recent West Indies series. However, it could also drop the confidence of the players like it did to Stuart Broad only to make a stellar comeback. Since his dropping in Southampton, Broad has claimed 19 wickets in five innings; three times more than what Anderson managed in the same number of innings this season.
The Significant difference
Since the start of 2019, there is a significant difference between the two senior pacers of England. In 17 Tests during this period, Stuart Broad has 71 wickets from 32 innings at an average of 20.85 and a strike rate 45.5. Injuries limited Anderson to nine Tests in this period where he took only 25 wickets in 16 innings at an average of 25.52. Anderson claimed two 5-wicket hauls but took a wicket at an average of every 61.2 balls.
An even bigger difference is visible if we go through the numbers of the two players in home matches since 2019. In 17 innings across nine Tests, Stuart Broad has claimed as many as 49 wickets at an average of only 18.79. Broad took 34.8 balls for every home wicket in the last two summers while the same of Anderson reads 87. Anderson was ruled out from 2019 home Ashes after bowling in the first innings of the series and hence, he has only six wickets from six home innings since then.
So the question arises here if this will be the last time James Anderson plays at home. He is also most likely to reach 600 Test wickets at some point in time and the milestone can turn out to be his last hurrah.
(Stats as on August 6, 2020)
