“So it’s important we have that experience,it’s important for the guys who haven’t been,that they’ve got that knowledge around they can lean on them – we can try to tell them what to expect,and then in games.”
England’s blueprint has,to an extent,been moulded by the successes of other teams. All of them,according to Anderson,have prospered off the back of sheer consistency rather than speed. Bounce and movement help,but the main thing is to give Australia’s batters very little room to manoeuvre the ball.
“We’ve definitely looked at those two victories for India,South Africa as well[in 2016],we looked at that series,to see what they did well and how they got 20 wickets a game and how they won the series,” he said. “It’s important to look at those things,see if we can implement stuff in our set-up. We definitely in England get obsessed with the fact that we need pace in Australia,whereas if you look at the attacks around the world,they’re not dissimilar in pace to us.
“Apart from Mitchell Johnson,I can’t remember many over 90 miles[145 kilometres] an hour bowlers in any of the teams that have won there. Every team’s got players who bowl mid to late 80s,and that’s what Australia do. Yes,they’re quick enough,obviously Mitchell Starc is the quickest,but you look at[Pat] Cummins and[Josh] Hazlewood,what is their strength?
“I wouldn’t say pace,it’s being absolutely relentless with their areas,banging the top of off stump with the odd bouncer,and they make it very hard for teams. Then you look at the teams that have had success there,us in 2010-11,India,South Africa,how they went about it was being absolutely relentless with their areas. And being clever with the field positions as well.”
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As befits the most prolific pace bowling wicket-taker in Test history,Anderson also knows that England must keep an open mind to the situations that may arise. “We can’t just go ‘right,this has worked for everyone else,so we do that’,” he said. “We’ve got to do it our way as well,so we’ve got to find ways to get 20 wickets.
“We need to get runs on the board as well. We have and will continue to look at,over the next month,things that will hopefully stand us in good stead for the series.”
Things that,you can’t help but suspect,will include the unlikely aid of La Niña.
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