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James Anderson: 'I don't wake up thinking, right I'm 38 - I feel in as good a shape as I've ever been'
Jimmy Anderson said that England had to “bat big” if they are to put themselves on course to seal the series in Sri Lanka, after closing the second day on 98-2 in reply to Sri Lanka’s 381 all out.
“We know now we've got to bat big, we've got to bat a long time to try and win this game but that's what you've got to do in the subcontinent,” Anderson said. After England slipped to 5-2, with Dom Sibley and Zak Crawley managing only a duck and five, skipper Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow added an unbroken 93 runs before the close of the second day.
But, with the Galle wicket already showing signs of turn and likely to deteriorate, Anderson admitted that England need to get a first-innings lead to put themselves in a strong position in the game.
“It's pretty important to try and get a lead if we can - just thinking of how the game's going to go with the pitch deteriorating, we don't want to chase down too many in the fourth innings if we're going to win.”
In a brilliant display, Anderson claimed 6-40 from 29 overs in Sri Lanka’s innings: the 30th five-wicket haul of his Test career and his best figures in a Test in Asia. In seven Tests since the start of 2020, Anderson has now taken 29 wickets at an average of 17.6, showing no signs of decline after turning 38.
“Age is something that I don't really take into account - I don't wake up thinking, right I'm 38 and however many days,” he said. “I feel in as good a shape as I've ever been.”
Anderson said that the heat and humidity in Galle, and the lack of assistance for pace bowling, made his haul even more satisfying than his success in England.
“Because conditions are very different you feel it's a bigger achievement. The weather has been rocket hot and to bowl the amount of overs, get the wickets I've got and the rewards, certainly feels very good.”
Anderson used the lockdown period to try and improve his fitness, and has worked on making his running technique more efficient.
“I've worked really hard on my fitness the last 12 months, lockdowns have actually helped that quite a bit. I feel in really good shape. I'm working on stuff like running technique to make me quicker. I don't see why I can't keep improving just because I'm getting older.
“I feel as though I can get quicker and that I can improve on my fitness, so I am trying to find ways of doing that. I have done a lot of work in the gym and I have sort of got obsessed with watching sprinters as well. I am obsessed with Carl Lewis at the minute, watching him run.
“I don't think I'm surprising myself. The more work you do, the more effort you put in, the more rewards you get generally.
“On the skills stuff, bowling in the nets here, seeing Stuart bowl in the first game use his leg-cutter really well, I've been working really hard to make sure those sort of skills are up to scratch.”
Meanwhile, less than two weeks before the start of England’s Test tour of India, which begins on February 5, it is still unclear who will broadcast the series in the UK. As Telegraph Sport revealed in December, the tour is set to be shown on Disney’s Hotstar streaming service, although the final arrangements have yet to be confirmed.
