James Anderson responds to the critics after two poor games in Ashes 2023

England veteran fast bowler James Anderson is still 12 wickets away from completing 700 Test wickets.

Leading England pacer James Anderson has been struggling to make his mark in what could probably be the last Ashes in his career. 41-year-old pace bowler James Anderson has been able to pick up only 3 wickets in 4 innings he bowled against Australia in the first two tests. Not often do we see James Anderson struggling to sneak in a few wickets in every inning he bowled in England.

Earlier after the first test at Edgbaston, he blamed the wicket and hinted that if ECB provides the same kind of wickets in the rest of the Ashes game, his Ashes will be over. Anderson has now come out and said the reason that he is not picking wickets in bulk is not because of his age. 

James Anderson responds to critics

James Anderson wrote in his column in the Telegraph, “It comes with the territory of my age for people to speculate about my future. But I understand, It is a high-profile series and you get put under the spotlight a bit more and the easy target is to say he is getting on a bit. But the reason I have not taken wickets is not because of my age". Mentioning his past contributions, Anderson wrote, “I feel like I have always contributed at some stage. But I do not think I am bowling particularly badly, I am just going through a lean patch, which you do not want to happen in an Ashes… I am saying lean patch but it is only 2 games out of 181”. 

He also mentioned England's short ball tactic and wrote, “However, when you see the best bowlers in the World slamming it into the middle of the pitch, it is not great viewing. If you asked all the bowlers on show at Lord’s, they will say they want to try other skills as well. I have spent 20 years pitching the ball up trying to swing it and move it off the deck and when you do not get anything doing that, it is frustrating. I just have to keep working on my game, chat to the coaches and see if there is something more I can be doing”. Anderson is still 12 wickets away from 700 Test wickets.