By Dominic Farrell
James Anderson wants England to prove they have turned their form around when the nip-and-tuck Investec Test series against India resumes at Emirates Old Trafford on Thursday.
Lancashire seamer Anderson arrives at his home Test having returned to his imperious best at the Ageas Bowl last week, scooping the man-of-the-match award as Alastair Cook’s side secured a resounding 266-run victory to tie the five-match rubber at one apiece.
Indeed, players hitting top form was a common theme at Southampton, with Cook notching a pair of authoritative half-centuries either side of tons for Ian Bell and Gary Ballance before Moeen Ali spun his way through India’s lower order on the final morning.
But even amid this stellar role call, Anderson’s receipt of the match gong was full justified as his peerless ability to skilfully manipulate the ball both ways caused persistent trouble for the Indian batsmen on a true surface.
For the player who now lies just 12 scalps behind Sir Ian Botham on England’s all-time Test wicket-takers list, a nagging consistency in lines and lengths was the most pleasing facet of his display.
“I think, from my point of view, I felt similar to the team – I was bowling well in patches but not doing it through a consistent period of time,” Anderson told ecb.co.uk.
“ I wasn’t doing it throughout a whole day for example, myself and Stuart Broad - (who) was back to somewhere near his best.
“I think that’s something that we’ve got to try and use now. That is the standard that we’ve set ourselves and that’s what we’ve got to try and keep up for the rest of the summer.”
England dominated from the off in the third Test, displaying a ruthless streak that Anderson acknowledges was often lacking during a 10-match winless run in the longest format.
“We won sessions here and there and then we’d lose key moments of games and that’s what loses you a Test match,” he explained.
“The thing that we did at the Ageas Bowl is we won pretty much every session. We were relentless with bat and ball.
“It was quite hard work trying to do that, being relentless, and that is something that we’re going to have to front up and do again this Thursday in Manchester.”
Cook will be delighted to have Anderson at his disposal at Old Trafford after the Interntional Cricket Council found him not guilty of breaching its Code of Conductduring an alleged incident between the bowler and India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja during the first Test at Trent Bridge - a match in which the "Burnley Express"was an unlikely hero with the bat.
On the back of a trying year for England, Anderson is forthright in his praise for Cook and points towards the successful integration of the likes of Ballance and Moeen into a remodelled Test side as a vindication of the Essex opener’s leadership skills.
“There’s been a lot of criticism of Alastair Cook this summer, particularly his captaincy,” he said.
“I think the fact that these young guys can come into the dressing room, be themselves and go out on the field and they perform just as they would for their counties without any fear – the pressure has been taken off them almost – I think that is a huge credit to Alastair they way he goes about it, and Peter Moores.”
But experienced heads such as coach Moores, Cook and Anderson know current plaudits will count for little unless England grow their green shoots of recovery into a hard-earned series triumph.
“I think it has just started to turn a corner, I’m hoping,” said Anderson, whose battle to hold back the tears following the sapping Headingley loss to Sri Lanka in June may yet be remembered as this summer’s rallying moment for the national side and its supporters.
“It didn’t really start that well for us – we lost the one-day series and Test series against Sri Lanka and we were 1-0 down after two Tests against India.
“It wasn’t a great start for us even though we didn’t play particularly badly.
“Now after the Test at the Ageas Bowl I thought we certainly turned a corner. It was a very good performance from us and something that I hope we can kick on from and use to produce some better form throughout the summer.”