Oh Jimmy Jimmy!

Whatever happens on Sunday evening (and I sincerely wish for an England win) this time tomorrow the country will be swamped under a freak tide of football mania so before that a hurried and highly self indulgent appreciation of one of this country’s greatest ever sportsmen.

It had to end sometime and although there is sense to the management’s thinking it’s a shame Jimmy wasn’t able to chose precisely when.  188 test matches over 21 years and I’ve followed every single one of them in some way.  The records and landmarks came and went, the acclaim – “England’s greatest pace bowler” was awarded long before the end.  Add to that, the greatest swing bowler cricket has ever seen, there will be few dissenters.  Apart from following on TMS or TV I have been at the grounds to watch nine of Jimmy’s test matches and was lucky enough to watch Jimmy bowl on eight occasions.  On these occasions I travelled sometimes with friends, sometimes with family and often with both.

Against West Indies at Edgbaston in 2004, England had dominated the game with Hundreds from Trescothick and Flintoff in the first innings and a second ton from Tres in the second.  This West Indies team contained the likes of Lara, Gayle, and Chanderpaul so were no push overs.  Sarwan hit a hundred but still England were miles ahead.  When we arrived for the fourth day England were going for quick runs to set a target, Thorpe scored fifty odd and we saw Jimmy get one of his record number of “not outs”.  England bowled, Hoggard opened things up and Giles went through the middle order.  Gayle made 88 before falling to Giles and a baby faced Jimmy came on to take the last two wickets of Lawson and Collymore, both clean bowled and we celebrated an England win.  This was virtually the same England squad that kept improving and beat Australia a year later in the best series ever seen.

At Trent Bridge in 2007 Anderson was in the period of his career where he hadn’t yet stepped up a gear and made his place in the side secure, (the previous year England had selected Plunkett and Lewis ahead of him).  This match England were bowled out for 198 and a reply of 481 saw India well on top.  On the fourth day we were treated to an England fight back with 126 from Vaughan and fifties for Strauss and Collingwood.  Jimmy made 1, bowled by the great Anil Kumble and he didn’t take a wicket on this occasion.  India went on to win the match by seven wickets and take the series.

At the same ground a year later England thrashed New Zealand. Pietersen scored a ton on the first day to set a score of 364 and when New Zealand went in Jimmy took career best figures of 7-43 to make the Kiwis follow on.  They done a little better on second innings but at times it looked like the game could be all over on day three.  At the beginning of the fourth day New Zealand needed 65 to make England bat again but they didn’t get there, it was all over by lunch.  Ryan Sidebottom ripped through to finish with 6 wickets.  Jimmy took the last wicket to fall having Chris Martin caught at slip by Collingwood and England had won by an innings.

Later in the summer we went to Edgbaston to see England face a much tougher South African team.  England batted first and made a sub-par 231, South Africa replied with 314 so things could have been worse.  In the second innings a brilliant ton from Collingwood had England back in the game with a chance of edging ahead.  On the fourth day Colly was batting with the tail and managed to add another 60 odd to stretch the lead, he was last man out for 135, Jimmy was bowled by Kallis for one.  South Africa needed 280+ to win and for a long time it looked like they’d never get there, Anderson had Ashwell Prince caught at the wicket and the Saffers were 93/4.  De Villiers scored a few as did Boucher but Graham Smith was brilliant, finishing not out on 154 as South Africa won by 5 wickets.  (But there is a caveat, DRS would have revealed Smith was out to Panesar who bowled well).

We returned to Trent Bridge in 2010 to watch an England team that was settled under Strauss’ captaincy and was getting better and better.  Pakistan are always dangerous opponents though, although this team actually went home in disgrace in the end.  England scored 354 with Eoin Morgan of all people scoring 130.  When Pakistan replied they were all out for 182 with Anderson taking 5-54 and was by now recognisable as the bowler we came to admire.  On the fourth day England were extending their lead but became a bit bogged down, Matt Prior got things moving with 102 setting a target of well over 400.  Jimmy scored 2!  Then Pakistan’s second innings, wow!  Broad started things rolling with two quick wickets then Anderson had Imran Farhat caught by Strauss at first slip and the day ended at 15/3.  On the following day the crowd saw a Jimmy Anderson masterclass, he was just unplayable, finishing with figures of 15-8-17-6, all the wickets either LBW or caught in the slips – inswing or outswing, brilliant!  His match figures of 11/71 remain his career best.

In 2011 we saw the third day of England vs India at Trent Bridge. On this occasion we batted all day with 159 from Ian Bell along with half centuries from Pietersen and Morgan saw us over turn a first innings deficit. Jimmy didn’t get on the field that day but took five wickets in a match England ending up winning comfortably.  At the end of this series England were crowned the official number one team in the world.

Trent Bridge again in 2012 for a spring test match against the West indies who batted first and racked up a decent score of 370 with Samuals and Sammy both getting hundreds.  England were officially the best team in the world and responded well with a score of built around 142 from Strass who was still going when the entire Hastings family, three generations, arrived on the third morning.  England had a strong line up in those days and everyone chipped in with a few runs, except Bairstow who was worked over by Kemar Roach and Jimmy who was out for a duck but crucially we had a first innings lead.  When West indies went out again Jimmy opened the bowling and took the first two wickets; Barath LBW and Powell bowled to reduce them to 14/2 from which they never recovered.  When we left at the end of the day West Indies were 61/6 and were eventually all out for 165 with Anderson taking four.  England knocked off the required runs to win by nine wickets.

Later in the year we travelled down to the Oval to see the formidable South Africans again.  England had made 385 and in reply the Saffers were 86/1 at the beginning of the third day, Jimmy had taken the only wicket to fall.  On this occasion we got to watch Anderson bowl all day but it was a painful experience as Smith did us again with 131, then Amla and Kallis both got amongst the runs finishing the day unbeaten and going on to make big hundreds.  When South Africa declared on 637/2 Kallis was 182 not out and Amla had 311.  Suffice to say South Africa won by an innings and by the end of the series had replaced England as world number one. 

We returned to the Oval in 2013 for the ultimate, the first day of an Ashes test match!  This was the final test of a series we were leading 3-0 so there was no tension and we were confident of watching England roll the Aussies one more time.  It didn’t work out like that though as the day finished with Australia 316/4; Shane Watson of all people scored 176 and Steve Smith made 60 odd and completed his maiden test century the following day.  However we did see four wickets and the two from Jimmy couldn’t have been sweeter, David Warner caught at the wicket by Prior for 6 and Michael Clarke bowled through the gate for 7.  The game finished in a high scoring draw, Clarke set a target and England went for it and were on course before running out of time.

There have been hundreds of times when James Anderson had me out of my chair and punching the air but for nine of Jimmy’s 188 test matches I was at the ground and I saw him score 12 of his 1353 runs, take 1 of his 107 catches and 9 of his 704 wickets.  I’ve been lucky enough to see a dozen or more genuinely great English cricketers in the flesh but Jimmy Anderson may be the greatest of all.