James Anderson: “You probably need that X-factor bowler – either a mystery spinner or a guy who can bowl 95mph”
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With England have been thrashed 4-0 in the recently concluded Ashes series, pace maestro James Anderson admitted that his side are in need of an “X-factor bowler” if they are to triumph the next Ashes series in Australia.
Anderson’s comments come after Australia’s bowling line-up finished with 20 wickets or more in the five-Test series.
The pace trio of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood took 23, 22 and 21 wickets respectively, while specialist spinner Nathan Lyon claimed 21 wickets.
Anderson was England’s highest wicket-taker with 17 wickets, while fellow seamer Stuart Broad picked up 11. Moeen Ali, who was expected to play a pivotal role as England’s go-to spinner, failed to live up to expectations as he concluded the series with five wickets to his name at an average of 115.
“If the conditions are like this, you probably need that X-factor bowler – either a mystery spinner or a guy who can bowl 95mph,” Anderson told BT Sport as quoted by the Metro. “You can’t just get in the science lab and create a fast bowler. Australia are blessed that they’ve got three fantastic bowlers.
“It’s quite attritional cricket out here, we’ve created pressure for a bit but then it’s released.”
Anderson confirmed that this was his last Ashes series in Australia and conceded that he was extremely disappointed the trip Down Under ended up being so one-sided.
“It’s been a tough few weeks, we’ve worked tirelessly to try and get something out of this series, but every time we’ve put ourselves in a position we’ve failed to capitalise and come up short,” he said. “It’s bitterly disappointing because we thought we were capable of causing an upset.
“I hope the guys in the dressing room are hurting as much as I am, it’s a horrible feeling to lose and see the Australians celebrate with the Ashes.”
Many questions have been raised about whether England need to make some drastic changes to their Test squad, but Anderson believes there is no need for that.
“It doesn’t feel like a series where there should be a big upheaval,” he was quoted as saying by Sky Sports. “It doesn’t feel like a completely disastrous series. [But] we’re hurting and we know we’ve got to improve.”