Paul Collingwood credits a reinvigorated Ben Stokes with helping heal the pain of England's Ashes defeat over the winter.Ī 4-0 humiliation against Australia left the Test side in need of new direction, with Collingwood stepping up as interim head coach following the sacking of Chris Silverwood. I feel like he's going to consistently hit 85mph and be pretty accurate." Collingwood: 'Box office' Stokes making a difference
"He's not a Jofra, he's not a Mark Wood, he's not a 95mph bowler. It would have been hard work for him on that pitch this week and Test cricket will only get easier as his career develops. "To perform like that in your first game, especially in that second innings, it did give England a little bit of a sniff. "It will do wonders for him, that's an amazing return on that pitch where we saw all other seam bowlers struggle," Anderson said. I'm just looking forward to playing some cricket for Lancashire."Īs Anderson readies himself for this season's LV= Insurance County Championship, which starts next month, England go to Grenada for the final Test this week hoping for a change in fortunes, with their seam attack in particular blunted by desperately unresponsive surfaces.Įngland Test captain Joe Root has not ruled out a return to the squad for Stuart Broad and James Anderson and says they could feature this summer.Īnderson's Lancashire team-mate Saqib Mahmood briefly gave England some encouragement in Barbados with a double breakthrough on the final day, however, finishing with match figures of 4-79 on his Test debut. I feel in a good place physically and mentally as well. "What I can do now is just get myself ready for the county season and try and show people what I can do. "But I made peace with the decision weeks ago, it's completely out of my control. "When you're hearing how things are going and not being a part of this rebuild is a little bit tough," Anderson, who has taken 640 wickets in 169 Tests, told BBC Radio 5 Live. The Lancastrian did concede not being part of a new-look set-up was still a bit hard to stomach, with England drawing in Antigua and Barbados and lacking a cutting edge with the ball in both matches. Sky Cricket YouTube | Cricket videos | Cricket news.Root: England could have been 'braver' with declaration.