Pitch puts a bounce in Anderson's step - Sport in brief - Evening Standard
       

Pitch puts a bounce in Anderson's step

James Anderson will continue his short-pitched assault on New Zealand's batsmen despite his role in causing a blood-spattered end to Daniel Flynn's first Test innings at Old Trafford.

The Lancashire seamer delivered a hostile spell in an attempt to intimidate New Zealand's middle order, forcing Flynn to retire hurt after one bouncer knocked out one of his front teeth while Jacob Oram was hit on the helmet and the hand.

"There was blood everywhere as soon as it hit him so you could see he needed help, but when you hit someone on the head, generally it encourages bowlers to do it again." said Anderson, after the tourists were reduced to 202 for four at the close on the opening day of the second Test.

He added: "I went up to him as soon as I hit him and asked him if he was all right, but I didn't get a reply.

"I'm trying to get him out and I want to make it as uncomfortable for him as possible - it's just one of those things that happen, people do get hit.

"Certainly with Oram we thought it was a bit of a weakness and he didn't look that comfortable and we're just going to keep on doing it when someone plays it like that."

Anderson's aggressive display was the perfect tonic for England captain Michael Vaughan, who had ordered his attack to crank up the pace to unsettle the tourists on the quickest cricket wicket in the country.

Having lost the toss to bowl first, Vaughan was encouraging his young bowlers to use the short ball in conditions which were not helpful to swing bowling.

"It was a bit cold and conditions weren't really conducive so when I got the end with the wind I decided to test out the middle of the pitch and there was a bit in it for us," explained Anderson.

"The pitch wasn't doing a great deal, the ball wasn't swinging so that was the third option to go to. It worked quite well for a while and I thought we could have had a couple of more wickets during that spell."

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