Ashes 2019 | England should take better advantage of home conditions, believes James Anderson

In many ways, 2019, thus far, has been a terrific year for touring teams in Test matches, much unlike the previous years. After India and Sri Lanka won in Australia and South Africa respectively, Australia retained the urn in England for the first time since 2001. But in contrast to the previous Ashes series' in England, the pitches on offer this time around had minimal swing and lateral movement, thus helping the visitors largely in the process. 

One person who has lamented at England's rued opportunity to make better use of home conditions is pacer James Anderson, who unfortunately missed out on the series due to a calf injury.

"I think they've probably suited Australia more than us. I would have liked to have seen a bit more grass but that's the nature of the game here," Anderson told Cricbuzz.

"When you're selling out - like Lancashire selling out five days of Test cricket - it's hard not to produce a flat deck but, you know, that's one of the frustrations from a player's point of view. We go to Australia and get pitches that suit them. They come over here and get pitches that suit them. It doesn't seem quite right," he added.

Anderson believes that England, unlike teams like Australia, India and Sri Lanka don't take full advantage of home conditions, thus making it teams easier to tour the country. He feels that the curators need to be a bit more biased when it comes to the preparation of wickets.

"Even like last year - I thought they were good pitches here against India. I thought they weren't green seamers but I thought they suited us more than India. We as a country or cricket team, cricket board, don't use home advantage enough.

"As I said when you go to Australia, go to India, Sri Lanka, they prepare pitches that suit them. I feel like we could just be a little bit more biased towards our own team," he explained. 

The standout bowler and the highest wicket-taker of the series has been Pat Cummins, who has almost taken a leaf out of Anderson's book, putting relentless pressure on the batsmen by hitting the right areas over and over again. Anderson heaped praise on the speedster and said that the 26-year-old's consistency is what makes him effective.

"Their bowlers have just been pretty relentless - so consistent in the areas they've bowled. Pat Cummins is the best bowler in the world because he hits the top of off stump at 85mph-plus regularly, and he' got a really good Plan B - bowls a good bouncer. It's quite simple what they do, but it's really effective because they do it so consistently," he said.

Having been ruled out of the series due to a calf injury, the English pacer now faces a race against time to be fit for the New Zealand series that starts in November. The 37-year-old hopes to be fit in time for that series, but if not, is focused to be fit for the South Africa series starting in December.

"That would be great if I'm fit for that (tour of New Zealand)," Anderson said.

"If not, then South Africa would be next on the list. We'll just have to wait and see. It's been a really annoying couple of months with it.

"With the time pressure and this series trying to get it ready, it's not been able to cope with that. So I want to give it time to heal. I don't want to have to answer 'how is your calf?' ever again," he added.

Despite age not being on his side, Anderson firmly believes that he has several more years of cricket left in hin and has stated that he'll look for inspiration from other sportsmen of similar mould to prolong his career. The pacer also added that he will do everything within his powers to keep playing the game for as long as he can.

"I'll look at how other sportspeople have done it throughout their careers to keep going into their late 30s. Whether there's anything specific I can do, diet, gym program, supplements, whatever it might be.

"Because I've still got a real hunger and desire to play cricket. I still love the game and still feel like I can offer something to this team and still have the skills and can bowl quick enough to have a positive effect," he signed off.