England’s all-time leading Test wicket-taker James Anderson may be 36, but coach Trevor Bayliss believes he’s still got several years of international cricket left in him.
Swing bowler Anderson made the most of helpful conditions with a match haul of nine for 43 as England overwhelmed India by an innings and 159 runs in the second Test at Lord’s on Sunday.
In the process, he became the first bowler to take 100 Test wickets at Lord’s and took his career tally to 553 — just 10 shy of Australia great Glenn McGrath’s record of 563 for the most taken by any pace bowler in Test cricket.
Anderson is also currently top of the International Cricket Council’s Test bowling rankings.
“I don’t think there’s any age — he keeps surprising everyone,” said Bayliss.
“As long as he keeps his body fit there’s no reason why he can’t go on for three or four years,” he added of Anderson, who has been managing a shoulder injury.
“A lot of other bowlers do start to drop off mid-30s or so. It’s only the very, very best that are able to keep it going.
“I think he’s showing that he is the very, very best.”
Anderson has an even better record at Trent Bridge, where the third Test starts on Saturday with England looking for another win that would give them an unbeatable 3-0 lead in the five-match series.
“He’s not just good when the conditions suit him, but in these conditions he’s the best in the world,” Bayliss said.
“It’s a test for any batsman in the world to try to face him in these conditions.”
Even India captain Virat Kohli, who made 200 runs off his own bat including a superb century in England’s narrow 31-run win in the first Test at Edgbaston, struggled at Lord’s.
Bayliss said adjusting to the local environment was a problem for all touring teams.
“When the ball is swinging around they (India) have some difficulties, as when it’s spinning and we go to the subcontinent,” the Australian explained.
“They have some extremely good players, so our job is to try and stay on top.”
England were without Ben Stokes at Lord’s because of his ongoing trial for affray.
But fellow pace-bowling all-rounder Chris Woakes turned in a man-of-the-match display in his absence, returning from injury to score a maiden Test century and take four wickets as well.
His runs, mainly made during a sixth-wicket stand of 189 with Jonny Bairstow, helped England recover from 131 for five to 396 for seven declared.
“He has done a lot of hard yards, not just with the ball but with the bat over the last few years too,” Bayliss said of Woakes.
“He’s a lovely bloke, and one of those guys who everyone genuinely wants to do well, so to see him go out there and do so well when we thought we were in a bit of trouble, to go and play the way he did with Jonny, was fantastic.”
England named an unchanged squad on Monday, with Stokes again omitted, although the selectors said they would assess his position at the end of the trial.
Bayliss, speaking before the squad announcement, said England’s victory at Lord’s proved they were not being distracted by the case.
“The guys are able to put anything off-field out of their mind and concentrate on what they’re doing, and this was the perfect example,” he said.
James Anderson can go on until he is 40, says England coach Trevor Bayliss
James Anderson can go on until he is 40, says England coach Trevor Bayliss
History-chasing Djokovic and Alcaraz to meet in Australian Open final after epic semifinal wins
- Carlos Alcaraz striving to become the youngest man ever to complete a career Grand Slam
- Novak Djokovic is aiming to be the oldest man in the Open era to win a Grand Slam title
MELBOURNE: Novak Djokovic finally beat one of the two men who have been blocking his path to an unprecedented 25th Grand Slam singles title when he edged Jannik Sinner in five sets Friday to reach the Australian Open final.
To get that coveted No. 25, he’ll next have to beat the other: top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz.
They’re both chasing history in Sunday’s championship decider, with the 22-year-old Alcaraz striving to become the youngest man ever to complete a career Grand Slam.
The top-ranked Alcaraz also had to come through a grueling five-setter. He fended off No. 3 Alexander Zverev 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 6-7 (4), 7-5 in a match that started in the warmth of the afternoon Friday and, 5 hours and 27 minutes later, became the longest semifinal ever at the Australian Open.
That pushed the start of Djokovic’s match against Sinner back a couple of hours, and the 38-year-old Djokovic finally finished off a 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 win just after 1:30 a.m.
“It feels surreal,” Djokovic said of his 4-hour, 9-minute triumph. “Honestly, it feels like winning already tonight. I know I have to come back … and fight the No. 1 of the world. I just hope that I’ll have enough gas to stay toe-to-toe with him.
“That’s my desire. Let the God decide the winner.”
Djokovic was at the peak of his defensive powers, fending off 16 of the 18 breakpoints he faced against the two-time defending Australian Open champion. It ended a run of five losses to Sinner, and a run of four semifinal exits for Djokovic at the majors.
“Had many chances, couldn’t use them, and that’s the outcome,” Sinner said. “Yeah, it hurts, for sure.”
Alcaraz and Sinner have split the last eight major titles between them since Djokovic won his last title at the 2023 US Open.
Nobody knows how to win more at Melbourne Park than Djokovic. He has won all 10 times he’s contested the Australian Open final.
He said he saw Alcaraz after the first of the semifinals was over and he congratulated him on reaching his first final at Melbourne Park.
“He said sorry to delay,” Djokovic later explained. “I told him ‘I’m an old man, I need to go earlier to sleep!”
Djokovic, aiming to be the oldest man in the Open era to win a Grand Slam title, was kept up late.
“I’m looking forward to meeting him on Sunday,” he said.
Final 4
With the top four seeds reaching the Australian Open men’s semifinals for just the fifth time, Day 13 was destined to produce some drama. The season-opening major had been a relatively slow burn, until the back-to-back five-setters lasting a combined 9 hours and 36 minutes.
Alcaraz and Zverev, the 2025 runner-up, surpassed the 2009 classic between Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco as the longest ever Australian Open semifinal.
Medical timeout
Alcaraz was as close as two points from victory in the third set but was hampered by pain in his upper right leg and his medical timeout became contentious.
He said initially it didn’t feel like cramping because the pain seemed to be just in one muscle, the right adductor, and he needed an assessment.
He navigated the third and fourth sets and was behind in the fifth after dropping serve in the first game. He kept up the pressure but didn’t break back until Zverev was serving for the match. He then won the last four games.
“I think physically we just pushed each other to the limit today. We pushed our bodies to the limit,” Alcaraz said. “Just really, really happy to get the win, that I came back. I just rank this one in the top position of one of the best matches that I have ever won.”
Believe
Asked how he was able to recover despite being so close to defeat, Alcaraz admitted he was struggling but said kept “believing, believing, all the time.”
“I’ve been in these situations, I’ve been in these kinds of matches before, so I knew what I had to do,” he said. “I had to put my heart into the match. I think I did it. I fought until the last ball.”
Zverev was demonstrably upset about the time out out in the third set, taking it up with a tournament supervisor, when his rival was given the three-minute break for treatment and a massage on the leg.
After the match, he maintained that he didn’t think it was right, but he didn’t think it should overshadow the match.
“I don’t want to talk about this right now, because I think this is one of the best battles there ever was in Australia,” he said “It doesn’t deserve to be the topic now.”
