Ashes 2021-22: My Fingers Were Twitching When I Saw That Pitch - James Anderson Disappointed On Missing Gabba Test

England’s senior-most player James Anderson expressed disappointment after being unable to take part in the first Ashes Test at the Gabba that concluded last week. Australia defeated England quite comprehensively, taking a 1-0 lead in the 5-match series.

Along with Anderson, his partner-in-crime, Stuart Broad, was also missing from the playing XI. The team management opted to rest both of them with an eye on playing them in the day-night affair at the Adelaide Oval which begins on December 16.

“It was very disappointing not to play the first Test. My fingers were twitching when I saw the pitch. It was underprepared. The initial thought as a seamer is you would love to play on that. I had never seen a pitch like that in Brisbane. Normally you never see a blade of grass there but last week it was green, it looked like a traditional county pitch, to be honest.”

“But I have learned to see the bigger picture now. The same for Stuart Broad. We know from experience that there is no point in moping around and not pulling our weight. There was a bit of chat between us about the pitch and how much we would have enjoyed bowling on it but it was all irrelevant,” Anderson wrote in his column for The Telegraph.

“We bowled long periods in the nets and I am definitely ready this week” – James Anderson

Having a lot of spare time as a result of being excluded from the first Test, both Anderson and Broad opted to practice with the pink-ball which will be used in the second Test. Anderson said that he was feeling prepared despite lacking match practice.

“Instead we bowled long periods in the nets at the Gabba with the pink ball and I am definitely ready this week and fully prepared for Test match bowling. The pink ball was temperamental in the nets.

“The first session with it, the ball swung around corners but it was 10.30 am in the morning so pretty irrelevant because we are starting in Adelaide at 2.30 pm. We came back at lunchtime. It was 12.30 pm-1 pm and the ball did a lot less,” he added.

The 39-year-old Anderson expects the Adelaide surface to be extremely good for batting and cited an example of David Warner’s triple century to back his thought process.

For Australia, they are plagued by injuries – one to Warner and the other to Josh Hazlewood, who has been ruled out of the second Test.

Also Read – Ashes 2021-22: Australia Believe They Can Win The Series 5-0, Says Nathan Lyon