England’s veteran pace bowling duo of James Anderson and Stuart Broad are the perfect example of bowing in partnership. Over the years, the duo has established its domination in red-ball cricket. In a live Instagram session, the fierce English duo names the batsman who made them struggle with their line or length. The English duo named former South African skipper Graeme Smith to be one of the toughest batsmen to bowl to.
“Graeme Smith, I found an absolute nightmare. I wish I could have bowled at him having worked on my around the wicket stuff and try and draw him to drive through extra cover. But for me just over the wicket trying to swing it into the stumps, hopeless.” Broad spoke.
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Anderson agreed with his fellow pace-bowling partner. He reveals that he had no idea how to overcome Smith’s leg side scoring. He said, “I had exactly the same problem. When I first started, my first series against him was 2003 and all I could do then was swing the ball back in. I didn’t have an out-swinger to a left-hander and I couldn’t wobble the ball across him. So I was just feeding his strength. I just got so annoyed.”
Unsurprisingly so, Smith’s best overseas performance as a Test player came against England in 2003 where he recorded 2 double hundreds. South Africa rode on Smith’s 277 at Edgbaston and 259 at Lord’s to conquer memorable wins in England.
During the same, Broad spoke to Anderson about the duo’s retirement. Broad believes both the pacers can stay fit till the Ashes series in Australia. “I don’t think I could go until your age. Your action’s so smooth, it looks a lot calmer on your body whereas mine is a little more forceful through my body I think,” Broad said.
“But I’m loving the environment at the minute. I love playing for England. I still have a huge motivation to keep playing and you just assess that year by year. And we’ve got that carrot dangling over us of Australia in Australia which looks like an achievable carrot to grab.”
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Anderson also expressed his belief in the importance of fitness. He says, “The big thing is the standards. If your standards feel like they’re dropping then yeah you might consider finishing. But as long as my standards stay high, my fitness levels stay good and my skills stay where I want them to be and my speed stays pretty good which they have been (I’ll keep playing)”
