The spearhead of English bowling line-up, James Anderson revealed that his team has a ‘Plan B’ to trouble Australian skipper Steve Smith, which will give them his wicket early in the second Ashes Test at the Adelaide Oval.
“I just think you’ve almost got to take him out of the picture when you’re bowling because if your eyeline is watching him and what he’s doing, then I think it really distracts you from where you want the ball to go,” said Jimmy.
“You’ve got to really try and almost blank him out and really focus on where you want the ball to go. Obviously, the plans to him, I wouldn’t say they didn’t work, but we didn’t get him out, so they worked to an extent,” he added.
Smith played a match-winning knock in the Ashes opener at Brisbane and rescued his side with a classic unbeaten 141-run innings. However, he earned this century with a lot of patience and hard work as it was his slowest Test ton in his entire career.
Meanwhile, Anderson says they will dry up the runs to get him unsettle. England’s all-time leading wicket-taker quoted “We dried his runs up and made him work really hard for his hundred but obviously, we want to get him out. He was the difference between the two teams. So, getting him out there will be crucial.”
Veteran bowler expects more swing under floodlights in Adelaide. “Hopefully more pace in the wicket might help us, but we’ve just got to be as relentless as we possibly can to someone like that,” 35-year-old concluded.
This Adelaide Test will be first ever day-night Ashes Test in the history. Australia gained 1-0 lead in the series after winning the first Test by 10 wickets.