NASSER HUSSAIN: Anderson Again Showed What A Champion Bowler He Is

Once again Jimmy Anderson showed what a champion bowler he is with a supreme late evening spell to vastly improve England's position at the end of the first day of the Wisden Trophy.
It truly was swing bowling of the highest calibre that changed the dynamic of a game as only the greats of the game like he can.
Even before his three-wicket burst with the second new ball, though, the bowling attack did really well on a pitch offering little encouragement - they kept persevering and controlled the run rate.
Jimmy Anderson showed what a champion bowler he is against West Indies on Wednesday
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Not that it would have been my attack of choice.
Sam Curran is a very fine cricketer but if a year ago someone had told me he would be taking the new ball in Barbados ahead of Stuart Broad, I would have said: 'Seriously?' He's a very good cricketer but he's an all-rounder, a batsman who bowls, and this is a hard-work pitch.

A pitch on which I want my frontline bowlers - people whose bread and butter is to work out how to get wickets - to play.

For me, that's Broad.
Broad might have not taken a wicket himself but, on a surface like this, you want your frontline bowlers out there performing for you. Word from the warm-up games is that he's got his mojo back too.
Anderson took four wickets to lead an England resurgence on day one of the first Test
Really, though, the major issue for me is not one of a borderline selection - because I understand why Joe Root was loyal to a cricketer in Curran who is almost undroppable - but pace, or the lack of it in this team.

Something not easy to acquire but very easy to lose, it seems, especially in England because of injuries.
The day it was announced Olly Stone has another stress fracture of the back seems to be an obvious starting point for an open debate on how we're going to protect our fast bowlers.

There's obviously Stone, Jamie Overton and Jofra Archer, when he becomes available, to work with. We need them and https://wordpress.com/post/influencewithelizabeth.wordpress.com/13 to develop more like them.
As Michael Holding always says 'pace makes batsmen do silly things.' Who was England's quickest bowler on Wednesday?
Ben Stokes. Who was England's most dangerous bowler by far until Anderson's magic with the second new ball? Ben Stokes. All because of that little extra zip.
There was no doubt who had helped England captain Joe Root (left) get back into day one
Even if Broad had played this would have remained a one-paced England attack at a time when rival countries are broadening their pace options.

India, for example, with the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami. South Africa have Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Duanne Olivier and Dale Steyn. Here West Indies probably have a quicker attack. Not necessarily a better one but a quicker one.
Just because England won 3-0 in Sri Lanka it would be crass to think all the problems away from home are solved.

There is more balance to the side, yes, but there is a piece of the jigsaw to fix. The same one Root was missing a year ago in Australia.
High on new England team director Ashley Giles' to-do list should be how we are going to produce more X factor fast bowlers, and how we are going to keep them fit.

So that when we go to Australia or South Africa and they bombard us with four quicks, we can return fire.
So that when faced with a playing surface which looked and played much better than it appeared destined to before a hard soak sealed it on the day before the match, there is a different dynamic available to challenge opponents and prevent them sitting in on Jimmy Anderson as West Indies did initially here, taking just half a dozen runs off him in his first 13 overs in the knowledge that they could score off the other bowlers.
And the genius of Anderson will not be around forever to drag them back into things as he did so spectacularly here. 
Ben Stokes also performed well on day one as he took three wickets against West Indies
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