You are always trying to win Test match series: James Anderson

Premier English pace bowler James Anderson is all geared up for the third and final Test against West Indies. The series is leveled nicely at 1-1 with the final game being set as the decider. After being shocked by the visitors in the second Test, Anderson believes that the hosts are well equipped to bounce back and register a series win.

In a conversation with Sky Sports, James Anderson remarked that the players always want to win a Test series. The third Test is very important for the English side since it is their last Test before they head to Australia for their marquee Ashes clash this November.

“You’re always trying to win Test match series. It’s very important to try to build momentum and with this team going forward I think we really need to get some momentum going as it’s an important winter for us. We’ve done some good things over the few months, or maybe 12 months, but not quite got that consistency going yet and that’s something that we’re really striving for,” quoted James Anderson.

On the defeat at Edgbaston

The English team was left stunned at Edgbaston when Shai Hope’s twin ton helped the visitors register a comfortable victory. Anderson mentioned that the performance was certainly disappointing from the hosts. He remarked that the bowlers were confident enough to bowl the opposition out and hence the English side had declared. He, however, credited the West Indies batsmen for their effort.

He believes that the Windies win has set up the series wide and open. It has made things interesting in the context of the series and hence the third Test will be a closely contested one.

“It was disappointing for us after such a performance at Edgbaston. We thought we could build on that and close out the series at Headingley. As bowlers we were confident we could bowl them out, but full credit to the West Indies — I thought they played fantastically well that last day. I thought the West Indies came back very strong, which we expected them to do, and we didn’t play at our best at all, which is really frustrating for us as we are trying to build momentum,” said the premier English bowler.

“But it makes for an exciting Test match here, a decider. That extra pressure will find out a bit more about people’s character and things like that so it should be an exciting week,” he added further.

On the prospect of entering the 500 club

Heading in to the final Test against the Windies, James Anderson will have a very good opportunity to enter the elite 500 wickets club. He is the leading wicket taker for England in Test cricket and is only 3 wickets away from the 500 milestone. Commenting on this, he mentioned that he is very proud of his achievements and has the number ticking at the back of his mind. His priority at the moment is winning the final Test against the Windies side.

“It’s obviously nice. The fact I’ve played for long enough to get this close to 500 is something that I’m very proud of. But to be honest, I do try to put it to the back of my mind. I’ve got a job to do this week. We desperately need to win this Test match to win the series so I’m going to be focused completely on doing my job for the team when we get out there,” conceded James Anderson.