Jimmy Anderson is readying himself for something of a fast bowler’s graveyard in Sunday’s third Test with the England team’s analyst, Rupert Lewis, having told the attack that only three out of every 100 balls bowled in Sharjah move off the seam.
As a motivational tool for the quicks before a Test match that Alastair Cook’s side need to win in order to square the series with Pakistan, it appears strange and one which Anderson, who has claimed seven wickets at 19 so far, revealed with a wry smile.
But it is also instructive as to the challenge faced when compared to Trent Bridge, for example, where the percentage of deliveries that seamed by one degree or more during the first hour of their one-sided win over Australia during the summer sat at 31.
That one degree of movement is considered by the number-crunchers to be the figure at which batsmen start nicking off; if a side are bowled out for 60 by the quicks in Sharjah, where only 3% of balls deviate, those culpable should consider a career change.
Not that Anderson is complaining about the lack of assistance, with the 33-year-old taking a perverse pleasure from bowling in the United Arab Emirates given the full repertoire of skills needed to earn a wicket. His off-cutter to remove Misbah-ul-Haq in the second innings in Dubai is one example.
“At the start of the series our stats man was very kind to put a few things up on the wall about seam movement and swing percentages – and Sharjah was 3% seam movement; so for every 100 balls, three seam. That was pretty depressing from a bowler’s point of view,” said Anderson. “In these conditions you’ve got to try and get something out of it as a seamer, you try all sorts of things. We’ve had the wicketkeeper up at different stages, you bowl off-cutters and things like that. It is a real test of your skills and it is quite good fun. Have a good day out here and you get more out of it personally.”
England’s seamers have largely met their end of the bargain in the series. Pakistan have instead taken a shine to the spinners Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid, milking then for more than four runs an over compared to their more frugal colleagues. It is high time the batsmen stepped up as a collective too, of course.
Cook and his deputy, Joe Root, average 112 and 92 respectively, with Ian Bell the next best at 39. The rest dwindle thereafter. Losing seven wickets for 36 runs on the third morning of their defeat in Dubai, claimed Anderson, is a lesson learned and one which sees them 1-0 down with one Test to play.
“There will come a time when other people do need to step up out here,” said Anderson, speaking at an event for the team sponsor Waitrose. “And it will happen, because we can’t keep relying on certain people. It’s more an individual thing of people looking at their own performances, looking at their shot selection in that period.
“For me, from the sidelines, [the collapse] looked a bit frenetic; like the beans were going and guys were a little bit nervous out there. We’ve been here four or five weeks and it’s some of the guys’ first experience of these conditions; you’ve got to cut them a little bit of slack. But we’ve got to learn from that.”
