“Partnerships are not just about bowling in tandem all the time. It all is about helping the other guy get in the right frame of mind.”
― James Anderson
“I don’t agree with the theory that removing grass and pace from the pitch nullifies Mitchell Johnson.”
― James Anderson
“I managed just five Tests between 2004 and 2006.”
― James Anderson
“Nasser Hussain was skipper when I first played for England and a massive influence. He showed me a lot of faith.”
― James Anderson
“Alastair Cook is one of my best pals.”
― James Anderson
“Andrew Strauss captained me through my purple patch.”
― James Anderson
“Kohli is always fired up, very animated on the field and plays with passion.”
― James Anderson
“It’s great when you can challenge yourself against the top players in tense situations. I’ve always enjoyed it.”
― James Anderson
“If you can dismiss the best in the world, it means you’re doing something right and have the quality needed to perform at the highest level.”
― James Anderson
“Cricket often leaves you scratching your head.”
― James Anderson
“I didn’t watch a Test match live until I played in my first in 2003.”
― James Anderson
“Growing up, my education about Test cricket came from dad’s video of the 1981 Ashes series – and Ian Botham’s incredible match at Headingley.”
― James Anderson
“Trent Bridge, 2013, is my favourite Test. An Ashes opener and England won a thriller by 14 runs. I managed to take ten wickets, which helps.”
― James Anderson
“Test cricket tests your ability as a cricketer but also bring out your true character.”
― James Anderson
“An out-and-out fast bowler is one of the great sights in cricket.”
― James Anderson
“At that speed, batsmen are almost trying to premeditate where the ball will be – they feel like they don’t have time to react or move. That’s the difference between bowling in the mid-80s and the mid-90s.”
― James Anderson
“Even at the age of 36, I’m always looking at ways to improve.”
― James Anderson
“There’s a fiercely competitive rivalry between myself and Virat Kohli – but also enormous mutual respect.”
― James Anderson
“A lot of teams see Lord’s as a special place and up their games to try to get their names on the honours’ board.”
― James Anderson
“Having two bowlers who can exceed 90 mph is a mouth-watering prospect – and something batsmen will not relish one bit.”
― James Anderson
“Part of the reason I fell in love with cricket was watching fast bowlers. They provide a sense of theatre with dramatic, ferocious spells and that applies as much in one-day cricket as in Tests.”
― James Anderson
“I’m proud to have represented England in four World Cups but it was hugely frustrating that we never reached a semi-final or played to our ability.”
― James Anderson
“I’m a very competitive person and maybe I’d taken things a bit too far at times.”
― James Anderson
“Ben Stokes, for example, is someone who plays better when he is a bit aggressive – and that’s something you don’t want to take away from him.”
― James Anderson
“It is easy for people to say ‘Go and express yourselves’ but you need the players, talent, confidence and environment to do it.”
― James Anderson
“The first time Stuart Broad walked into the dressing room, with his flowing blond hair, striking blue eyes and perfect figure, I thought: ‘My God, she’s beautiful.’”
― James Anderson
“The Oval 2018 was one of the most extraordinary Tests I’ve been involved with.”
― James Anderson
“I remember my first meeting with Alastair Cook clearly. The entire Lancashire side, some of them pretty mild-mannered, really laid into him. He’d just scored a double-hundred for Essex against Australia in a warm-up match before the 2005 Ashes. For some reason, we all assumed he must be really arrogant.”
― James Anderson
“I’ll tell you something about Glenn McGrath – he was a much better bowler than me. This is not false modesty.”
― James Anderson
“You so often see bowlers pick out a lovely new ball from the bag at nets and it looks great when it swings in the air and nips off the seam with batsmen playing and missing. But you have to simulate match situations. What about when the ball is 60 overs old, the sun is blazing down, the pitch is flat and there’s not a hint of movement?”
― James Anderson
“I’ve spent most of my life watching fast bowlers – initially as a kid on TV and later in the flesh when I started playing top-level cricket.”
― James Anderson
“The time to think about personal achievement is at the end of your career.”
― James Anderson
“I’ve played in Test matches before after injury without first playing a county game or warm-up of some sort.”
― James Anderson
“I first got into cricket by watching Test matches on TV and listening to overseas tours on the radio. The sport really grabbed me – and it didn’t matter that England weren’t hugely successful back then.”
― James Anderson
“When you’re a kid, you dream about playing cricket for a living, playing for your county and then your country.”
― James Anderson
“A competitive edge has helped me through my career.”
― James Anderson
“Lord’s is such a special place and to get my first and now my 500th wickets here is something that will live with me for a long time.”
― James Anderson
“As long as the body feels OK, I’m enjoying playing, helping the team improve and taking wickets, I’ll keep going.”
― James Anderson
“I’ve spoken to people who have retired once they lost the enjoyment of a long day in the field or going to the gym. If I lose that, it’s time to go.”
― James Anderson
“For me, what works is keeping training short but with high intensity and then recovering well. Physio, massage, icing, things like that.”
― James Anderson
“I know my game really well and I’m relatively comfortable in most situations.”
― James Anderson
“I very rarely get recognised in the street.”
― James Anderson
“As a cricketer you can go under the radar. It’s not like we’re footballers who get papped everywhere. I can go down to the corner shop without getting hassled.”
― James Anderson
“Being away so much makes you treasure those moments you are at home, spending time with your family.”
― James Anderson
“Getting past 30 as a sportsman, the end could be just around the corner.”
― James Anderson
“I’m very fortunate to have the body I have.”
― James Anderson
“For a fast bowler, not much stress goes through my body.”
― James Anderson
“I played at Lancashire when Glen Chapple was 40 to 41 and he was as good as he ever was then.”
― James Anderson
“Milestones have never really meant a lot. They probably will mean more when I’ve finished playing and actually reflect on what I have achieved.”
― James Anderson
“What I try to do is improve as much as I can so I can be the best bowler I possibly can.”
― James Anderson
“I will try to keep going as long as I can. I’d love to play until the age of 40 – it will be interesting to see if I can do that.”
― James Anderson
“I’m always trying to improve whether by being more consistent, accurate, fitter or able to bowl longer spells.”
― James Anderson
“I’ve just enjoyed playing for England – it’s an amazing job.”
― James Anderson
“I’m enjoying playing. As long as that continues, I’ll carry on playing as long as I can.”
― James Anderson
“Hashim Amla is someone that stands out. He’s a world-class player and I have not had a huge amount of success against him.”
― James Anderson
“I just go out and try to help England win games.”
― James Anderson
“An inswinger – that gets an lbw or bowled – after a few outswingers is always very pleasing.”
― James Anderson
“The more I can get into my brain the more I can produce on the field.”
― James Anderson
“I understand that when a player reaches his mid-thirties, and has a few injuries, people start to question how long he can last.”
― James Anderson
“You cannot treat someone differently just because they have become captain. We still took the mickey out of Alastair Cook when he was in charge. You have to treat them first and foremost as a team-mate.”
― James Anderson
“There is nothing quite like an Ashes trip Down Under.”
― James Anderson
“It is scary when bowling how hard batsmen hit it now.”
― James Anderson
“I remember playing a Twenty20 game in Australia in 2007 and Matthew Hayden smacked one back at me. My head goes down as I follow through and as I looked up I just saw this white flash pass about an inch from the side of my head. If it had been a touch straighter I would not have had time to react and who knows what could have happened.”
― James Anderson
“I realise I would not be the bowler I am today without the experiences, positive and negative, that I have had in Australia down the years.”
― James Anderson
“Instinctively I know the difference between general pain from bowling, and pain caused by a specific problem.”
― James Anderson
“There have not been many occasions when I have bowled pain free and generally you are not 100 percent.”
― James Anderson
“I think I have got a decent pain threshold.”
― James Anderson
“It is easy to get carried away in this Twenty20 era and think Test cricket has to be entertaining all the time.”
― James Anderson
“You can get suckered into believing you have to always be attacking with the bat, ball or fielding positions. But Test cricket is not always like that. There are times when it is a bit slow paced and even a bit boring.”
― James Anderson
“There is a lot of talk about how Twenty20 has changed batting techniques in Test cricket. But it has also had an impact on bowling.”
― James Anderson
“When games are close together you have to draw a line under the first match whether you win or lose, and then start again for the next one.”
― James Anderson
“I dreamt of playing for Lancashire then but never really thought it would happen.”
― James Anderson
“I don’t actually have a regular end I bowl from at Old Trafford.”
― James Anderson
“You can feel a bit of extra pressure bowling at your own ground.”
― James Anderson
“It is a knowledgeable crowd at Old Trafford and they will also tell you when you are not bowling well.”
― James Anderson
“The pink ball is a bit different. I don’t think it moves as much through the air.”
― James Anderson
“It would obviously be a big deal to reach 500 wickets but I don’t see it as a target or goal, it’s not something that has driven me on.”
― James Anderson
“A coach can help only so much. Out on the field you need a partner.”
― James Anderson
“In the heat of battle you might not be thinking clearly and that is when players have to take on the responsibility of helping the other guys out.”
― James Anderson
“I love talking about the game and passing on knowledge if I can but being a coach full time is another story.”
― James Anderson
“There is something special about the early stages of an Ashes Test. There is this unique buzz.”
― James Anderson
“To get key players out in a Test win is what you remember years later.”
― James Anderson
“The Gabba is not a frightening place to play.”
― James Anderson
“I would like a better record here in Australia but I would like a better record in every country.”
― James Anderson
“A bully waits until they are in the ascendancy to pounce on people.”
― James Anderson
“Dealing with sledging is an individual thing. For me, I am not going to take abuse from David Warner or anyone else and not have a word back. But it is down to the person.”
― James Anderson
“Some of the best cricketers in the world were very quiet on the field but came across in a way that made it very hard to sledge them. It went in one ear and out the other.”
― James Anderson
“A lot is made of the pink ball. But it is the same really. A good ball is a good ball, regardless of the colour. You might want to bowl a touch fuller with the pink ball when it is nipping around but generally a pink kookaburra behaves the same as a red kookaburra.”
― James Anderson
“I am quite stingy when it comes to giving runs away.”
― James Anderson
“I don’t like half-volleys being driven for four.”
― James Anderson
“I play a bit of golf, off a 12 handicap.”
― James Anderson
“No, no I don’t speed or anything. I drive a VW Touareg so.”
― James Anderson
“Maybe, early on, I had too many coaches, with three or four guys all giving different input.”
― James Anderson
“This game’s a lot easier early on in your career because people haven’t seen you play. Things got a lot harder when people saw what I did with the ball and began to think about how to bat against me.”
― James Anderson
“For me I love playing against the best players in the world, testing yourself and seeing whether you can get the better of them.”
― James Anderson
“I’ve been doing a lot of strength and stretch work to get stronger.”
― James Anderson
“From an England point of view they have put money into white-ball cricket because our performances in World Cups has not been good enough, I understand the reasons for that. But we have to be careful not to go too one-day, we have to find a balance because there is such a legacy of Test cricket in this country and we can’t lose that.”
― James Anderson
“If someone says something to me, I am not going to back down. Whether it’s defending myself or standing up for one of my teammates, that is the way I play the game.”
― James Anderson
“I regard sledging, chirping, whatever you want to call it, as one of the weapons at my disposal.”
― James Anderson
“Obviously, when I go in at No. 11 it stands to reason that we will have a better chance of scoring runs or batting out time if the batsman at the other end takes most of the strike. That’s because, as my place in the order suggests, he is a better batsman than me.”
― James Anderson
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