James Anderson is unhappy at one-day atmosphere

Tom Collomosse
8 Sep 2009

James Anderson has lamented the lack of atmosphere at England's one-day internationals against Australia and revealed the players craved a longer break after their Ashes triumph.

England's two defeats in the seven-match NatWest Series — at The Brit Oval and Lord's — have been played in front of near-full houses, but have lacked the sense of tension and excitement among the supporters which prevailed throughout the Ashes.

England need a win in the third ODI at Southampton's Rose Bowl tomorrow to get their hopes of a series victory back on track, as their packed schedule continues to test bodies and minds. Anderson said: “Ideally we'd have wanted a few more days after the Ashes to let things settle down and give people's bodies time to recover, but it just wasn't to be.

“We remembered the atmosphere we got all the way through the Oval Test match, and especially on that last day, and then we came into the one-dayer, which was very quiet.”

Meanwhile, Graham Onions will replace the injured Andrew Flintoff in England's 15-man squad for the ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa later this month.

The Durham paceman has joined England's one-day squad for the remainder of the NatWest Series, and could even make his limited-overs debut tomorrow.