Top 66 James Anderson Quotes

As a cricketer you can go under the radar. It’s not like we’re footballers who get papped everywhere. I can go down to the corner shop without getting hassled.

I don’t actually have a regular end I bowl from at Old Trafford.

What I try to do is improve as much as I can so I can be the best bowler I possibly can.

There’s a fiercely competitive rivalry between myself and Virat Kohli – but also enormous mutual respect.

Alastair Cook is one of my best pals.

When you’re a kid, you dream about playing cricket for a living, playing for your county and then your country.

It’s great when you can challenge yourself against the top players in tense situations. I’ve always enjoyed it.

For me I love playing against the best players in the world, testing yourself and seeing whether you can get the better of them.

I love talking about the game and passing on knowledge if I can but being a coach full time is another story.

I very rarely get recognised in the street.

The pink ball is a bit different. I don’t think it moves as much through the air.

Hashim Amla is someone that stands out. He’s a world-class player and I have not had a huge amount of success against him.

An out-and-out fast bowler is one of the great sights in cricket.

Having two bowlers who can exceed 90 mph is a mouth-watering prospect – and something batsmen will not relish one bit.

I don’t like half-volleys being driven for four.

The time to think about personal achievement is at the end of your career.

It is easy for people to say ‘Go and express yourselves’ but you need the players, talent, confidence and environment to do it.

I realise I would not be the bowler I am today without the experiences, positive and negative, that I have had in Australia down the years.

I would like a better record here in Australia but I would like a better record in every country.

If you can dismiss the best in the world, it means you’re doing something right and have the quality needed to perform at the highest level.

I know my game really well and I’m relatively comfortable in most situations.

I’ve been doing a lot of strength and stretch work to get stronger.

I regard sledging, chirping, whatever you want to call it, as one of the weapons at my disposal.

To get key players out in a Test win is what you remember years later.

I didn’t watch a Test match live until I played in my first in 2003.

I first got into cricket by watching Test matches on TV and listening to overseas tours on the radio. The sport really grabbed me – and it didn’t matter that England weren’t hugely successful back then.

You cannot treat someone differently just because they have become captain. We still took the mickey out of Alastair Cook when he was in charge. You have to treat them first and foremost as a team-mate.

This game’s a lot easier early on in your career because people haven’t seen you play. Things got a lot harder when people saw what I did with the ball and began to think about how to bat against me.

I dreamt of playing for Lancashire then but never really thought it would happen.

Being away so much makes you treasure those moments you are at home, spending time with your family.

Even at the age of 36, I’m always looking at ways to improve.

I played at Lancashire when Glen Chapple was 40 to 41 and he was as good as he ever was then.

Some of the best cricketers in the world were very quiet on the field but came across in a way that made it very hard to sledge them. It went in one ear and out the other.

A competitive edge has helped me through my career.

Andrew Strauss captained me through my purple patch.

At that speed, batsmen are almost trying to premeditate where the ball will be – they feel like they don’t have time to react or move. That’s the difference between bowling in the mid-80s and the mid-90s.

Cricket often leaves you scratching your head.

I will try to keep going as long as I can. I’d love to play until the age of 40 – it will be interesting to see if I can do that.

I’m proud to have represented England in four World Cups but it was hugely frustrating that we never reached a semi-final or played to our ability.

I am quite stingy when it comes to giving runs away.

The first time Stuart Broad walked into the dressing room, with his flowing blond hair, striking blue eyes and perfect figure, I thought: ‘My God, she’s beautiful.’

For me, what works is keeping training short but with high intensity and then recovering well. Physio, massage, icing, things like that.

You can feel a bit of extra pressure bowling at your own ground.

I’m very fortunate to have the body I have.

There have not been many occasions when I have bowled pain free and generally you are not 100 percent.

Maybe, early on, I had too many coaches, with three or four guys all giving different input.

A bully waits until they are in the ascendancy to pounce on people.

There is a lot of talk about how Twenty20 has changed batting techniques in Test cricket. But it has also had an impact on bowling.

Ben Stokes, for example, is someone who plays better when he is a bit aggressive – and that’s something you don’t want to take away from him.

There is something special about the early stages of an Ashes Test. There is this unique buzz.

A lot is made of the pink ball. But it is the same really. A good ball is a good ball, regardless of the colour. You might want to bowl a touch fuller with the pink ball when it is nipping around but generally a pink kookaburra behaves the same as a red kookaburra.

I’ll tell you something about Glenn McGrath – he was a much better bowler than me. This is not false modesty.

It is a knowledgeable crowd at Old Trafford and they will also tell you when you are not bowling well.

A lot of teams see Lord’s as a special place and up their games to try to get their names on the honours’ board.

Part of the reason I fell in love with cricket was watching fast bowlers. They provide a sense of theatre with dramatic, ferocious spells and that applies as much in one-day cricket as in Tests.

Growing up, my education about Test cricket came from dad’s video of the 1981 Ashes series – and Ian Botham’s incredible match at Headingley.

It is scary when bowling how hard batsmen hit it now.

When games are close together you have to draw a line under the first match whether you win or lose, and then start again for the next one.

The Gabba is not a frightening place to play.

I just go out and try to help England win games.

I’ve spoken to people who have retired once they lost the enjoyment of a long day in the field or going to the gym. If I lose that, it’s time to go.

I’ve just enjoyed playing for England – it’s an amazing job.

No, no I don’t speed or anything. I drive a VW Touareg so.

I’m enjoying playing. As long as that continues, I’ll carry on playing as long as I can.

If someone says something to me, I am not going to back down. Whether it’s defending myself or standing up for one of my teammates, that is the way I play the game.

The Oval 2018 was one of the most extraordinary Tests I’ve been involved with.