James Anderson – The Art of Swing
James Anderson is the all-time leading wicket-taker among pace bowlers in the world. Arguably the best right arm swing bowler the world has ever produced. He also took most five-wicket hauls for England in Test cricket.
Learning the Art of Swing:
Jimmy Anderson started as a quick bowler. He tried to bowl as quick as possible during the early days of his career. Anderson was only concentrating on speed when he was playing for the first team cricket for Lancashire because his captain wanted him to bowl fast. However, the biggest influence of Jimmy’s career was Mike Watkinson. When Jimmy was first contracted by Lancashire, Mike Watkinson was the second team coach and later he became the first team coach as well. Mike taught Jimmy how to swing the ball away when he was playing for the second team cricket in Lancashire. Jimmy worked with him very closely and learnt the art of swing.
Embed from Getty ImagesReverse Swing as Reverse:
Sachin Tendulkar went on record and said, “Jimmy Anderson was the first ever bowler who bowled reverse swing as reverse”. Sachin explained, when Jimmy bowls a reverse swing delivery, he holds the ball as if he is trying to bowl an out-swinger but during the release point, he brings the ball in. Most of the batsmen look at his wrist position and get committed. However, after covering the three fourths of the distance, the ball starts to move away from the batsmen due the imbalance in both sides and make them vulnerable as the batsmen already committed to play the delivery.
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