James Anderson vs Dale Steyn (part 1)

In the last few days, there have been heated debates in the cricketing circles about who among Dale Steyn and James Anderson is the better bowler. As a keen cricket enthusiast, I thought of throwing my hat in the ring as well by dissecting both pacers.

So, let’s take a look at two bowlers who at the peak of their respective powers.

James Anderson

James Anderson

Brief overview of his career

James Anderson arrived on the scene with a bang in Australia in 02/03. In the WC in SA in ’03, he went one step further by sending shock waves through cricketing circles with a peach of a delivery to dismiss Mohd. Yousuf of Pakistan. Just when it seemed like England had found a world-class swing bowler, it all went wrong. The emergence of Flintoff, Hoggard, Jones and Harmison meant that Anderson found himself on the sidelines. To make matters worse for Anderson, England’s backroom staff constantly tinkered with his action, and that led to him losing the uncanny ability to swing it late. Ironically, it is also believed that change in his action eventually resulted in what the backroom staff didn’t want to happen, and that was the dreaded back injury.

It was only when Peter Moores took over the reins of coaching England in ’07, did Anderson finally get a good run in the side. By bowling on flat decks and away from home in countries like India and West Indies, Anderson honed his bowling skills. By 2010, Anderson was ready to take over the mantle of becoming England’s strike bowler. The bad news for batsmen all over the world is that he hasn’t looked back since. Since January 2010, he has taken 159 wickets at an average of 25.76 in 38 Tests.

Anderson with the new ball

James Anderson is a unique pacer. He isn’t one of those swing bowlers who concentrates on mainly bowling the out-swinger, and slipping the odd in-swinger to keep the batsman on tenterhooks. In fact, when bowling with good rhythm, he can bowl four-out swingers and two in-swingers in a single over.

Most cricket pundits reckon that when an out-swing bowler bowls too many in-swingers, he invariably loses his rhythm, and his main weapon, which is the out-swinger, loses its potency. But barring a few exceptions, Anderson has continued to swing it both ways at will.

His modus operandi against left-handers is slightly different from a typical swing bowler. Most bowlers who concentrate on bowling out-swingers to right-handers with a new ball in hand naturally shape it back into a left-hander. But if we observe Anderson’s bowling technique carefully, he does the exact opposite thing, as his stock delivery from over the wicket to a left-hander is the one that drifts away.

The peach of a delivery he bowled to send Imran Farhat’s stumps somersaulting at Trent Bridge was a swing bowler’s equivalent of Shane Warne’s ball of the century. From around the wicket, he swung it into the left-handed Farhat before it virtually snaked away at a high speed to take out the off-stump.

The one left-hander who has in some ways countered Anderson’s stock delivery is Graeme Smith. Smith has shown great resolve and technique to leave Anderson’s out-swinger from over the wicket with ease. This tactic by Smith has frustrated Anderson to no end. It isn’t a co-incidence that in spite of Anderson having played every Test against South Africa in the last five years, England hasn’t won a series against them. When the strike bowler is blunted to such an extent by the opening batsman, it becomes easier to win a series. Yes, Anderson has snared Smith’s wicket six times in his career, but Smith has certainly given him some headaches by notching up big hundreds.

Anderson with the old ball

Before he got a run in the side, James Anderson wasn’t good at reversing the old ball. It was only when he bowled on flat decks in West Indies in 08/09 that he made the cricketing world take notice of his prowess with the old ball in hand.

We saw more evidence of it at Sydney in Australia in 10/11, when he delivered the coup de grace while bowling to Khawaja and Clarke in the second innings of the Test. In Sri Lanka and India last year, he made life difficult for batsmen with the ability to make things happen with the old ball.

Anderson’s spell at Kolkata last year was one of the best spells of the year. He made Kohli dance to his swinging tunes by mainly straightening it or shaping it away from him with the old ball, and deservedly got his wicket. To make it more enthralling for the cricket viewer, he would bowl the odd in-swinger to keep Kohli guessing about what Anderson might bowl next. He didn’t spare the Little Master either, as with that same tactic, he induced an edge from him. No wonder he has dismissed Tendulkar nine times in his career. Anderson took that good form to Nagpur as well.

Just a few days ago, Anderson showed his controlled mastery over reverse swing against Australia at Edgbaston. Amazingly, very early in the innings, he was generating swing with a slightly older ball. It was his ability to shape it away from the right-handed batsman with good control that again caught the eye. Very few bowlers can reverse it both ways like him.

Anderson and his new tricks

With time, Anderson has added new tricks to his arsenal. One of them is the ‘wobble ball‘ which he sometimes uses on flat decks. By going through videos of Zaheer Khan‘s expertise with the old ball, he has learnt to hide the ball from a batsman’s view.

He also uses the crease wonderfully well to out-think the best in the business. The way he used the crease to swing it both ways by landing the ball on a similar spot on the pitch to take Brownlie’s wicket in the recent series against West Indies was a sight to behold.

Anderson and speed gun

Anderson definitely isn’t the fastest bowler in the world, but he is quick enough to keep the batsmen on their feet. With the new ball, he mainly concentrates on controlling the prodigious swing he generates. If Anderson believes he can extract a bit of reverse swing, he tends to bowl quicker. Just like all good or great bowlers, he has that extra burst of pace up his sleeve.

Is Anderson only a swing bowler?

One of the biggest misconceptions about Anderson is that he is purely a swing bowler. The reality is that Anderson is good at both extracting seam movement off the pitch as well as generating prodigious swing. It was through seam bowling that he impressed one and all at Brisbane and MCG in Australia in 10/11. Even in Sri Lanka and at Nagpur, he extracted appreciable movement off the pitch. If he was good at just swinging the ball, he wouldn’t have become a world-class bowler by now.

Is Anderson a good bowler away from home?

Before 2010, that was a valid point to consider. But not after that. The yardstick of judging a quick bowler’s potency hinges on how well he bowls on barren and lifeless tracks of Asia. Anderson’s success in UAE and Sri Lanka last year, followed by his recent exploits in India, indicates that he has proved his mettle on flat decks. In those three series in Asia, Anderson took 30 wickets at an impressive average of 26.93. Even on the hard wickets of Australia, he took 24 wickets at 26.04. It was just that Anderson matured late as a bowler.

In the second part of the article, I would look at deciphering Steyn’s modus operandi, and compare strike bowlers from both countries.