James Anderson Targets English Batters For Failing

Veteran pacer James Anderson has called out England batters for their dismal performance in the second Test of the ongoing Ashes.

In his blog for The Daily Telegraph, the experienced baller wrote that there was not much stir on offer for the bowlers in the day-night Test in Adelaide and that the team’s batting department had been unsuccessful on a flat surface.

Losing the opening Test match by 9 wickets, Joe Root & Co. failed the second Test at the scenic Adelaide Oval, Adelaide by a huge 275-run edge and now have to deliver excellent performances to triumph the Ashes after yielding a 2-0 lead to Pat Cummins-led Australia.

After England’s heavy defeat in the day-night Adelaide Test, Captain Root had criticised and accused the bowlers of the defeat. The bowlers couldn’t dismiss the Aussies in both the innings, with hosts claiming at 473-9 and 230/9 serially. Talking after the overwhelming loss, Root had said, “With the ball in hand, we didn’t bowl the right lengths,” he said.

“We needed to bowl fuller. As soon as we did in the second innings, we created chances. That’s frustrating. We did it four years ago and didn’t learn from it. We have to be better” Root said.

“We did not bat well enough on a pitch where the data said it was one of the flattest Adelaide surfaces ever produced and the pink ball did the least it has ever done in a day-night game,” wrote Anderson in a column.

“From a bowlers’ point of view, you want to be hitting the right lengths all the time. We did our best on the first two days to do that … Maybe we could have gone a touch fuller at times but we still created quite a few changes that were not taken,” Anderson mentioned.

The third Test, the Boxing Day encounter, starts on December 26 at Melbourne Cricket Ground, MCG.