Anderson 'brilliant' on 'frustrating' pitch

Cricket365
July 10, 2014

Fast bowler James Anderson emerged aggravated by a relatively placid pitch, as England's attack struggled on day one of the first Test against India at Trent Bridge in Nottingham on Wednesday.

Visiting skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni's choice to bat first after winning the toss brought a total of 259 for four, built on the back of an unbeaten century from opener Murali Vijay.

A pitch that has brought just one County Championship draw this season and hasn't seen a Test match stalemate since August 2002 proved uncharacteristically docile.

"It was frustrating. It's not great, but there is not a lot we can do about it unless some strict directives come in. I thought we did brilliantly. Our attitude was fantastic. We could have moaned about the pitch quite easily and sulked about, but I thought all the bowlers stuck at their task brilliantly and we're pretty happy with our day's work," said Anderson.

"As bowlers we don't expect seam movement. We expect flat pitches at Test level. We just expect our nicks to carry and a more even contest between bat and ball. It was frustrating. But the pitch is what it is and there is not a lot we can do about it at this stage."

The right-armer was the pick of the bowlers, snaring figures of two for 70. Opener Shikhar Dhawan's departure was particularly poignant, affording Anderson a 50th Test wicket at this venue.

The recalled Ben Stoke, picked selected ahead of fellow all-rounder Chris Jordan, went without a breakthrough – and burgeoning spinner Moeen Ali was largely exposed on a surface void of much turn.

"We've got to rest well and stick at it. Even two days out we could see the pitch wasn't going to be one with huge amounts of pace in it. But it is something you've got to try and put out of your mind. Our job is to take wickets and all day long we tried to do that. We tried different things, different fields, different balls. We tried everything," concluded Anderson.