Australia will be unsure how to tackle 'Bazball', claims Anderson

Australia won’t know how to handle ‘Bazball’ during the Ashes, claims Jimmy Anderson… as 40-year-old paceman reveals he is learning new tricks under England coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes

• Stokes’s side have won eight Tests out of nine – and three series out of three 
• Anderson is England’s leading wicket-taker under McCullum and Stokes
• Australian batsman Warner claimed he hadn’t ‘taken much notice’ of ‘Bazball’ 

Jimmy Anderson believes Australia will be unsure how to tackle ‘Bazball’ when the Ashes start next summer, after a record-breaking few months for England’s Test team.

Ben Stokes’s side went into this morning’s third and final game against Pakistan at Karachi having won eight Tests out of nine – and three series out of three – since Joe Root stepped down as captain.

And Anderson, rested from this match to keep him fresh for the challenges ahead – starting with two Test in New Zealand in February – says he expects England to improve even further by the time the Ashes start at Edgbaston on June 16.

Jimmy Anderson expects England to improve even further before the Ashes next year

‘The message is the same every week,’ he said. ‘Can we go to another level? Can we keep breaking records? Can we play even more entertaining cricket?

‘With the talent we have, we should just keep getting better, so by the time the Ashes does come around, we’ll be in a good place. I texted Tim Southee the other day to congratulate him on the New Zealand captaincy, and he was like: “I’m not sure I can keep up with you guys.”

‘Maybe the Aussies might be more brash than him, but there might be something deep down where they’re not sure how they’re going to approach it against us.’

The messages coming out of the Australian camp have been mixed. In July, Steve Smith questioned whether Bazball was ‘sustainable’. 

Ben Stokes’s side have won eight Tests out of nine – and three series out of three

More recently, David Warner claimed he hadn’t ‘taken much notice of it’, before saying ‘we’ll be playing Ronball’ – a reference to the nickname of Australian coach Andrew McDonald.

Meanwhile, former Test batsman Mark Waugh has described England’s approach as ‘great for the game’. He added: ‘I think other captains and nations should have a look at how they’re playing the game.’

Anderson, though, did have a stab predicting an Australian response. 

‘Having played against them a lot, I’m sure they’ll try to come back just as hard as they can,’ he said.

The veteran bowler is England’s leading wicket-taker under Brendon McCullum and Stokes

On Thursday, he celebrated the 20th anniversary of his international debut. But even now, aged 40, he is learning new tricks – to the extent that he is England’s leading wicket-taker under Brendon McCullum and Stokes, with 35 at 17.

‘I love thinking about the game and about plans, and Ben is that sort of captain,’ he said. ‘All he thinks about is taking wickets. He’s not bothered about trying to dry the run-rate up or control the game. You see that with the fields he sets.

‘That then rubs off on you as a bowler. I can’t remember the amount of times I would have bowled in previous years with a leg slip, but I had one quite a lot throughout the summer and in this series.’

Of the eight wickets at 18 he managed at Rawalpindi and Multan – taking his overall Test tally to 675 – his favourite was the dismissal of Mohammad Rizwan in the second Test, when a ball that was shaping in suddenly nipped away to hit the top of off stump.

‘Funnily enough, I did have a leg slip in, and Rooty thinks maybe that position made him stay slightly leg side of the ball,’ said Anderson. ‘Those little things can actually make a big difference.’

Australian batsman David Warner recently claimed he hadn’t ‘taken much notice’ of ‘Bazball’

Anderson did admit that the delivery hit a crack, just as Ollie Robinson did soon after to bowl Babar Azam. But that didn’t lessen his pleasure.

‘It looks great on telly,’ he said. ‘For me, it’s right up there with one of the best balls I’ve bowled.’

Despite being encouraged to attack with the ball, Anderson has become harder to hit, conceding just 2.20 an over in this series – meaner than any other bowler.

‘I feel proud of the work I’ve put in over here,’ he said. ‘Forty overs in the first Test, and 22 on the last day of the game – that’s as good as I’ve bowled, and as important a role as I’ve played in any team, especially in these conditions.

‘We all feel like that as bowlers. The seamers have put in a lot of work to try and get something out of the wickets. We’ve managed to find some reverse swing, which helps. It’s been brilliant from start to finish.’

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