It is the abuse thrown at him that Jimmy Anderson remembers. A little over 12 years ago, as a skinny, ebullient 20-year-old bowler with the quirky bow-of-the-head delivery but a seam position to die for, he made his international debut in the cauldron that is the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
He took the wicket of the great Adam Gilchrist too, although by that time Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting had both completed centuries and added 225 for the second wicket. England lost, as mostly they have done against Australia on their home turf.
“I guess the abuse then was a bit of a shock,” Anderson remembers. He did not elaborate on whether it was from opposition or crowd.
He is still skinny but older, wiser and rather more case-hardened. This is his fourth World Cup and the opening match against Australia, back at the MCG, is his 189th, which makes him only 10 shy of Paul Collingwood’s England record, and he is already the most capped England international.
Before the start of the World Cup, Anderson has more ODI wickets, 264, than any England bowler and needs a further four in Test matches to overtake Ian Botham’s national record: the most capped and greatest wicket-taker of all England bowlers.
In between the first and the latest, he has experienced success, bad advice, crippling injury, loss of form and a renaissance to become the most skilful manipulator of a cricket ball in the world. Now, the statistics will tell that over the last two years he is the most successful bowler in the first 10 overs of an ODI.
A vignette. Five years ago, in Hobart, in preparation for that successful Ashes tour, the England team had an open session in which journalists were invited to participate in order to gain that much better understanding of what went into producing an international class cricketer. David Saker, the England bowling coach, was demonstrating the most basic tenets of his bowling philosophy. Fundamentally, he said, there are three deliveries: the bouncer, the yorker, and top of off stump.
To help practise the yorker, Saker had a pole suspended six inches from the ground along the batting crease, so that the ball had to be bowled under it. For the bouncer it was a helmet perched on a pole. Then he called up Anderson. “Top of off, Jimmy.” Anderson nailed it, with dipping inswing from the perfect length for the bounce. “Yorker”. The off stump clattered, the ball whispering under the pole without even feathering it. “Bouncer”. Anderson struck the helmet precisely on the badge: double top. Those skills have to be earned.
Back to the MCG, and this latest visit will likely feel a bit different. “I can’t compare the two,” he says, “because the 20-year-old version of me was completely different. I was just happy to be there enjoying the occasion, but it was a bit of a shock. [On Saturday] it won’t be.
“I think it’s just that I know now you’ve got to enjoy occasions like this and to play at the MCG in front of a full house against Australia in a World Cup is something every player dreams of. You want to play in front of a big crowd and show off your skills and talent.”
Anderson has, though, not fared particularly well at the ground. In that debut game, he bowled only six overs, taking one for 46 as England were heavily beaten by 89 runs. A month later, and there was defeat again, although this was closer – just five runs – but the single late-order wicket of Brett Lee cost him 57 runs from nine overs.
The only other ODI he has played in Melbourne came four years later, and this time he failed to take a wicket as Australia cruised in by eight wickets with 28 deliveries in hand. The books need balancing.
Australia v England, MCG, Melbourne, Saturday 14 February (3.30am GMT)
Australia (from) G Bailey (capt), A Finch, D Warner, S Watson, S Smith, G Maxwell, M Marsh, B Haddin (wkt), M Johnson, M Starc, P Cummins, J Hazlewood, X Doherty.
England (from) E Morgan (capt), M Ali, I Bell, J Taylor, J Root, R Bopara, J Buttler (wkt), C Woakes, S Broad, S Finn, J Anderson, A Hales, G Ballance, C Jordan, J Tredwell.
Umpires K Dharmasena (SL), A Dar (Pak).
Third Umpire B Bowden (NZ).
Fourth Umpire J Wilson (WI).
Match referee J Crowe (NZ).
