Wednesday 1 July 2015 12:34, UK
James Anderson says England are within striking distance of landing some knockout Test performances.
Alastair Cook’s side has shown clear signs of moving on from the 5-0 defeat to Australia in 2013/14, winning five of their last eight Tests.
And with new coach Trevor Bayliss at the helm, Anderson is convinced that England are ready to improve a recent record of one series victory in five – starting with this summer's Ashes.
“I think we’ve shown signs of going in the right direction; we’ve just not quite nailed it yet,” said the 32-year-old ahead of his sixth Ashes series.
“We were 1-0 up in the West Indies and couldn’t quite see out that series. We were 1-0 up against New Zealand here and we couldn’t quite see out that one.
“So we’ve shown signs of turning the corner as a Test team and going back on that upward movement, but we’re still a little way off and hopefully we can continue to improve throughout this Ashes series.”
England’s disastrous attempt to defend the urn in Australia two winters ago was not entirely one-way traffic.
The home side was flailing at 132-6 on day one of the first Test, then wobbling at 174-4 in the second and faltering at 143-5 in the third – only to rally and post 294, 570-9 declared and 385 respectively.
After losing 1-0 series leads against West Indies and New Zealand this year, Anderson recognises that England must do more to win more key sessions in a Test.
“Somewhere along the way we are going to click and really push on,” he added, speaking as he faced the media at an exclusive Slazenger Cricket nets session.
“It’s recognising the key moments and if you are on top you try to drive home that momentum.
“Equally, when you’re under pressure it’s about how you deal with that and come out the other side.
“I think it’s really important we take the positive steps when we get the opportunity. We saw in the New Zealand series, in the Lord’s Test, for example we were 40-4 and then Ben Stokes and Joe Root put on an amazing partnership – it was a really great, positive counter-attack.
“Hopefully we can take that sort of positive thinking forward into this Ashes.”
Such is England’s mind-set after the one-day team, under Eoin Morgan’s leadership, lit up the start of the summer with a 3-2 series victory over New Zealand, playing a bold, aggressive brand of cricket.
But England’s leading Test wicket-taker of all time – overlooked for the ODI squad after England exited the World Cup at the group stages – says that he’s always adopted an upbeat outlook on the field, despite his grumpy demeanour.
“You don’t win games of cricket without being positive,” he said. “I don’t think a negative team has ever won a game of cricket. So we always try to do that.
“When I’m bowling I try to think of the positive option, I try to think of a positive field setting – and that’s something that I’ve always done.
“That’s what I enjoy. I love that about the game – trying to work out the opposition batsmen and what fields are best for each individual batter you come up against.
“There’s been a lot of guys who have come in, playing with smiles on their faces; every successful team that I’ve played in have played with smiles on their faces, because when you’re winning it’s very easy to do that and when you’re on a downward spiral it’s not as easy to do that.
“We really enjoy what we do. Going out there in an Ashes series especially will be really exciting for us and hopefully we can continue the positivity that’s started for us in the last few weeks and take that into the Ashes.”
It’s already been quite a year for Anderson, who last month was appointed an OBE in the Queen's birthday honours list after becoming the first England bowler to take 400 Test wickets.
He also chalked up his 1,000th Test run in the New Zealand series but says he won’t be moving up the order any time soon – even if the first Ashes Test takes place at the Cardiff, the scene in 2009 of one of his finest knocks when Anderson and Monty Panesar resisted Australia for 40 minutes to earn a draw.
“I think I’ve found my spot at No 11,” he dead-pans. “I work as hard as I can on my batting. I know at times I’ll get called upon to either try and bat out for a draw or score a couple of quick runs.
“I do enjoy batting and I know that it’s important that all 11 people in the side can hold a bat and contribute in some way but my main job is to try and take wickets. I’ll focus on that.
“I really hope it’s not as close [at Cardiff] this time and we’re hanging on for a draw at the end. I’ve got fond memories of that Test. The crowd was fantastic that day and I hope that the crowd will be the same this time.”
James Anderson was speaking on behalf of Slazenger Cricket whilst facing off against the media at an exclusive nets session. James Anderson will be using the Slazenger V1200 bat during this summer's Ashes, available for £299.99. For more information and to view the full Slazenger Cricket range visit Slazenger.com