The Sports Lowdown For All Your News and Opinions
| Head-to-Head | ||
| James Anderson | Mitchell Johnson | |
| Age | 32 | 33 |
| Test Matches | 104 | 66 |
| Wickets | 403 | 291 |
| 5 Wicket Hauls | 17 | 12 |
| Best | 7-43 | 8-61 |
If England or Australia are going to win this summer’s Ashes, they are going to need their leaders of the attack to be in top form. Mitchell Johnson and James Anderson are two very different bowlers, but both are extremely effective. If they hit top form, batsmen may find them unplayable, and even on an off day they have enough about them to find ways of getting batsmen out. While both sides have other bowlers who can be very dangerous, namely Ryan Harris and Stuart Broad, both sides will be relying on their leaders of the attack to get the big wickets.
Anderson recently surpassed 400 wickets for England and is their leading wicket taker of all time. One of the finest bowlers of his generation, Anderson is near unplayable when bowling in conditions which suit him. Only Dale Steyn of South Africa can hold a claim to being as a good a swing bowler as the 32-year-old Lancastrian.
Anderson has enjoyed Ashes success before and will be hoping to help England secure another series victory. Anderson must be managed by England skipper Alistair Cook if the seamer is to avoid burnout, something England cannot afford to happen. However, after being rested for the ODI series against New Zealand, he should be fresh and ready to lead the England attack as they aim to avenge the 5-0 whitewash they suffered in Australia eighteen months ago.
Eighteen months ago, Johnson dismantled England in the 2013-14 Ashes series. The English batsmen found his express pace unplayable as he ripped through the England batting line up time and time again. Johnson is 34 now and hasn’t been effective in recent times, although he did play a major role in Australia winning the World Cup earlier this year.
He has never won an Ashes series in England and did not play a single game when Australia toured England two years ago. He will be keen to put that right this time around and inspire Australia to their first win on English soil for fourteen years. Although Johnson isn’t always consistent, when he finds his best form he is one of the most dangerous bowlers in the world and a Test bowling average of 27.5 shows just what a good bowler he is.
With both bowlers probably only having a couple of years left in them, they will be eager to secure what could be a last Ashes victory. While there is no denying that Johnson is a fine bowler, his lack of consistency will mean that England will be hopeful that he will not be able to cause them as many problems as he did in the previous series. While Anderson hasn’t reached his best against the West Indies or New Zealand, he will be hoping to get back to best and bowl England to victory.
While both are fine players, in English conditions, Anderson definitely has the edge and he will be hoping to further his claim of being one of England’s greatest bowler of all time.
