This England can win from anywhere, Anderson believes

England’s greatest ever wicket-taker Jimmy Anderson has been an integral part of some of its finest teams. Certainly, some with bigger reputations than Joe Root’s squad to contest this Ashes series.

Anderson is adamant, though, that no England side he’s been a part of has been as stacked with match-winners – players who can turn a game in a session or less – as this one.

Australia almost secured the Ashes at Headingley in 2019 but were denied by Ben Stokes.Credit:PA

The first group of England players, including Anderson, Root, and Ben Stokes, arrived in Queensland on Saturday morning for two weeks of resort quarantine on the Gold Coast ahead of the Gabba Test from December 8.

Anderson has told The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald that, alongside Jos Buttler, they have a collective ability to turn games that he’s not felt in the England dressing room before.

Much of this Anderson puts down to the phenomenal rescue act performed by Stokes at Headingley in the 2019 Ashes, a performance that reminded him of some moments once conjured by the dominant Australian teams of the 1990s and early 2000s.

“Because it was Australia that hundred at Headingley was extra special,” Anderson said. “But I also think that for the team, to know you can win from the position we were in then, I think that’s something an England side probably hasn’t had for quite a long time. It was almost very Australian, ‘we can win from any position’.

“I remember watching them in the 1990s and the early 2000s and playing against them, and it just felt like they could win from any situation, and we’ve never really had that from an England point of view. But having those characters in the team, the Joe Roots, the Ben Stokes, Jos Buttlers, Stuart Broads, to have those match-winners who feel like they can win the game from any situation, is huge.”

Anderson’s 2019 Ashes series was ruined by a calf injury that had him seriously considering retirement before his wife talked him out of the idea on a family holiday to Greece. But his memory of watching Stokes conjure the Headingley miracle – albeit on a TV screen in the physio room at the ground – is something he wants to experience again, only this time on the field in Australia.

“Everyone was trying to find a lucky spot throughout the day,” Anderson said. “My lucky spot ended up being in the physio room at Headingley, which is out the back, you can’t see the cricket. So I was watching it on TV with a delay, I was hearing the crowd noise first and then watching the footage.

“It was amazing to be at the ground and experience it. I went out on the balcony after and saw the crowd there, which was incredible. You could feel a real sense that something very special had taken place and delighted to have been there as a spectator. I’d much rather have been playing, but great to be at the ground.”

The balance of England’s team has been irrevocably improved by Stokes’ availability after a physical and mental health oriented break from the game during the northern summer.

“He’s the whole package. A huge boost for us,” Anderson said. “When you look at our selection of teams with him not there, it’s difficult to find that balance. Do you play the extra seamer which maybe leaves you a batter light, it just throws up so many little curve balls, and trying to find that balance is really tricky without a genuine allrounder?

“He’s a matchwinner, someone that people love watching, he can win games on his own and we saw that in 2019, and he’s a senior player in the group and really got a big voice in our squad.”

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