The premier English fast bowler James Anderson said that Australia’s cricketers have often tried to get under his skin as it has always been expected from them. England and Australia form one of cricket’s oldest and most infamous rivalries. It’s England who has most often faced the unrelenting aggression of the Australians.
However, this approach from the Aussies led to the ban of Steve Smith and opener David Warner for a year. The controversial trio was caught up in the ball-tampering scandal during a Test match in South Africa, an incident which rocked Australian cricket in 2018. A few months ago, in the build-up to the 2017-18 Ashes Down Under, Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon said he hoped his side could “end the careers” of several opponents.
England also claimed that in 2015, all-rounder Moeen Ali was called ‘Osama’ by an anonymous Australian in the Ashes series played that year. Australia carried out an investigation into the Ali incident, but it was closed last month after they could not find ‘any new conclusive evidence’. For Anderson, who’s been playing a crucial for England team for one and a half decade now, the memory of these difficult periods is still afresh.
ALSO READ: James Anderson Not Even Considering Hanging His Boots
Speaking to the BBC, Anderson said, “They have tried too hard to be that stereotypical Australian team that are aggressive and go hard at people. Mitchell Starc is not naturally aggressive despite being a fast bowler and even Steve Smith is a really good bloke – there is no real malice with anything he does – so it was really out of character.”
James Anderson also mentioned that Australia’s current skipper Tim Paine was ‘a genuinely nice guy’.
Speaking about good captaincy and the required traits, Jimmy cited Brendon McCullum’s example, saying, “The thing about wanting to be good blokes is that you can only be a good bloke if you really are a good one. When Brendon McCullum was New Zealand captain, he made it all about being entertaining and showing off your skills. Both Eoin Morgan in ODIs and Alastair Cook in Tests took from his way and tried to incorporate it into their captaincy.”
Australia will be visiting England next year to defend their World Cup title in the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup. They will also look to retain the Ashes after they thrashed England 4-0 in the 2017/18 series.
