London: The series against India has taught England pace spearhead James Anderson a lesson or two. Instead of being aggressive with his attitude and mouth, Anderson now prefers to let the ball do all the talking.
Anderson, who was involved with an altercation with India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja in the first Test at Trent Bridge, risked missing the final two Tests of the five-match series. But the fast bowler was cleared of any wrong doing by an International Cricket Council (ICC) judicial commissioner.
Anderson admitted the incident had taught him especially to be more calmer on the field.
"I've always tried to be aggressive, because it's what I need to be successful. But in the last few games I've possibly concentrated on being aggressive with the ball, rather than with my mouth. I'm bowling as well as I (ever) have," said Anderson after England won the The Oval Test by an innings and 244 runs to win the series 3-1 here Sunday.
Anderson was the top wickettaker of the series with 25 scalps at an average of 20.60. Anderson has 380 wickets from 99 Tests and is how three wickets short of Ian Botham, who is the highest wicket-taker for England.
On his own form, Anderson said: "It's right up there . . . it's the best I've probably bowled, yeah. The way the whole group has bowled has been outstanding since Southampton."
Anderson also gave due credit to part-time spinner Moeen Ali, who was the second best bowler in the series with 19 wickets. "We have got on top of their batsmen and not let them get back in any of the games we've played. We have created pressure non-stop. That's a credit to all - not just the four seamers, but Moeen Ali as well," he said.
Anderson said that after the loss at Lord's, the bowlers decided to concentrate not on plans for particular batsmen. "But on what we do well - hitting the top as much as we could, challenge their outside edge, challenging their forward defence. And as we've gone on through last three Tests we've improved on that," he said.
