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Cricket
By Ted Corbett
Instead steps forward James Anderson, at 20 the youngest England bowler to capture five wickets in his first Test innings. His haul of five for 73 in 16 action-packed overs sent Zimbabwe crashing out for 147 in only 55 overs — 325 behind and made to follow on — after it lost last five wickets for 27 runs in ten overs on the third day of the first Test at Lord's. He had four of those victims for five runs in 14 deliveries; straight fast bowling is too much for many accomplished batsmen and there were none of those in the twitchy Zimbabwe tail. Dominic Cork was the last bowler to underline his promotion to the Test ranks with five wickets back in 1995 also at Lord's. He bathed in instant glory for a summer, only to fade as injury and expectation beyond his capability caused his downfall. Anderson made it clear immediately that he understands the fame business. He was given an eight-man slip cordon when he was on a hat-trick and when the No.10 Ray Price escaped — he will still not know how — Anderson flung his arms in the air, in the Fred Trueman fashion, to prove that the sporting gods were denying him justice. A dozen balls later he was rushing down the pitch, his right arm raised in triumph to celebrate the departure of Douglas Hondo who has taken to batting as a lorry takes to ballet, and allowed Nasser Hussain his captain to push him forward to receive the most prestigious standing ovation in cricket; from the MCC members in the pavilion that has seen more than its share of conquering heroes. He is a quiet lad from the north Lancashire town of Burnley, son of an optician and a valued part of a close-knit family. Much like Beckham and Owen; any honours that come his way will not go to his head. England's hardheaded professionals will not let him turn into a big head; the punishing international schedule is just as likely to keep him on the straight and narrow. His method is a direct descendent of Brian Statham's `you miss I hit' philosophy and so long as he remembers that dictum he will not go far wrong. Anderson's performance was tarnished by the inept Zimbabwe batting. Dion Ebrahim survived 38 overs for 68 and Tatenda Taibu 90 minutes for 25; forget the rest. Zimbabwe are as bad as we thought. They have courage and determination but without Andy Flower their run-scoring potential has probably been achieved already. If Darren Gough and Andy Caddick had been bowling they might not have reached 100. So England left the ground at tea with Zimbabwe 75 for one with an air of smug satisfaction. The selectors had picked the right team, despite the noisy reservations of their critics. The batsmen were put in, survived the helpful pitch on the first day and scored 472 and the two debutants Anderson and Anthony McGrath achieved memorable feats. England has shown it can deal with any side save Australia and suggested that this summer may be one long success story against both Zimbabwe and South Africa. You might not have thought so in the morning when they had to call up Mark Butcher's sometime swing bowling to remove Ebrahim but he grabbed two more wickets in the second innings. McGrath, finally allowed to bowl at 120 for three, snapped up three wickets in 21 balls as Zimbabwe surrendered for 233. Was it Glenn or Anthony we were watching? In 7.45, with four lights shining it was too dark to tell.
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