In a career spanning 99 Tests and 380 wickets, the simple dominating of a morning session in a match may not feature in most bowlers’ highlights reel – but then again, James Anderson is not like most bowlers.
Flashback to Adelaide in December 2010, and arguably one of England’s best Ashes wins came on the back of Anderson’s superb opening spell on day one, which saw him pick up two wickets in his opening two overs, including that of captain Ricky Ponting for a golden duck.
“That period of play was one of the best I’ve been involved in,"Anderson told ecb.co.uk.
“(It was) early on in the game, setting the tone, the Barmy Army were in good voice as well. It’s always great to silence the Australians when we’re over there."
Australia were left reeling on three for two in the second Test, as Anderson went on to claim four scalps in the first innings and a further two in the second. It set the stage for England to eventually wrap up the win and then the series 3-1.
Anderson has plenty of memorable performances to look back on, as he chases Sir Ian Botham’s record wickets haul in his 100th Test due to start today against West Indies.
Indeed, his 10-wicket tally in the Trent Bridge fixture against Australia in 2013 is well high on the list, as is helping England achieve a memorable win away under testing conditions in India in 2012.
But he looks back on that December win from five years ago with fondness, especially with England having to respond to the Australian challenge from the off.
“Adelaide is renowned for being a flat wicket," Anderson said. "We lost the toss, and were asked to bowl, and we managed to get them, I think they were two for three early on.
"Trotty got a run out and I managed to get two wickets in two balls, both caught by Swanny.
“I think that really kick-started our tour. We obviously won that series 3-1. We played a fantastic game and ended up winning by an innings.”