England vs. Pakistan: Flower praises James Anderson’s heroic
English coach Andy Flower was full of praise for his bowling attack that was led by James Anderson who ripped apart Pakistan’s batting line-up in the second innings of the first test match. James was able to bag 11 wickets against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 at Trent Bridge, Nottingham.
England defeated Pakistan with a massive margin of 354 runs, courtesy of some quality bowling and inexperienced Pakistani batting. The batting order could only manage to score 80 runs in the second innings of the first test match. James Anderson picked up his career best figures of 11 for 71 in favourable bowling conditions. For Pakistan, it was their second biggest defeat in terms of runs. England will now play its second test match from Friday against Pakistan at Edgbaston. Andrew Strauss is hoping that his prime bowler will continue his superb form in the upcoming matches of the four test match series. Conditions at Trent Bridge were favouring swing bowling and Anderson made the best out of those conditions.
Anderson is likely to be a threat for Pakistan in the second test match, since conditions in Birmingham also favour seam bowlers. With the prediction of overcast weather conditions in the second test match, Pakistan’s batsmen will yet again face a tough challenge of negotiating with the English pace attack. England’s management along with their coach are heavily depending on James Anderson to replicate his previous performances at Trent Bridge. It will be interesting to see if the 28-year-old pacer can repeat his performance.
English test cricket normally revolves around the Ashes series which will start at the end of this year in Australia. Coach Flower is worried about the fact whether Anderson will be able to carry his form in completely different conditions in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 or not. James has proved himself as a deadly bowler in favourable conditions in England. However, his performance in tough conditions will come under scrutiny against Australia in Australia later this year.
"It was a superb performance, we know what he can do when the ball swings, and that was a very good thing for his confidence." Flower said. When asked about his backup plan in un-favouring conditions, he said, "Isn't that like any bowler? If (Muttiah) Muralitharan came across a glass-like pitch he would be less effective than he is when he bowls at Galle. That is the same for any bowler - they have conditions that suit them more one day than the other. It is important for them to learn to adapt to those different situations. He is learning, certainly. He is a better bowler than he was, and he will continue learning. He is a very experienced bowler now, and we do rely a lot on him - regardless of conditions.”
Flower admitted that England is heavily depending on Anderson’s performance, however he stressed that Stuart Broad and Steven Finn have grown in confidence and have provided an ideal support to Anderson. While praising the 21-year-old Steven Finn, Flower said, "I was very impressed with him for a number of reasons. Firstly was the way he started his very first spell - he was bang on the money six balls out of six and at the end of that first over he got the wicket. Considering that was his first over back from his break - a break that had been given a lot of publicity - it was a very mature way to handle it. I thought he bowled well throughout the match - and I thought he batted with a lot of nous and composure [in a last-wicket stand with Matt Prior]. Those things all bode well for him. He is very mature for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/A-Young-c41367 man. He keeps things nice and simple. He keeps things in perspective which a great position for him to be."
English selectors have decided to continue with exactly the same squad for the second test match against Pakistan. Tim Bresnan will keep his place ahead of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ajmal-Shahzad-c42489. England’s national selector Geoff Miller has shown his satisfaction on the current squad and hopes that this squad will attain consistency in the coming days. England has now won five consecutive test matches.
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