England pace spearhead James Anderson claimed four wickets as England’s opening Ashes tour match ended in a draw against a youthful Western Australia XI in Perth on Sunday.
Anderson finished with four for 27 as the second-string WA side reached 342 in reply to the tourists’ 349 for six declared in the two-day warm-up game.
England’s all-time leading Test wicket-taker was driven a few times in his first spell of the tour and went for 18 in his five overs, but he tightened things up in his second and third bowling spells.
“I think you could probably see from the first session we were rusty … that was pretty obvious,” said Anderson.
“We didn’t get it right at all.
“(But) we’ve got two first-class games coming up that we want to be fit for, and get those cobwebs out.”
Anderson and his Test pace partner Stuart Broad both struggled to find lateral movement against 20-year-old opener Josh Philippe, who timed the ball beautifully for 16 fours off 92 balls.
“I didn’t have much rhythm first up,” added Anderson.
“It didn’t feel great, and there wasn’t much swing either with the new ball.
“But then I thought I got better as the day went on, and most of the bowlers would probably say the same … I thought we gradually got there in the end.”
Broad, arguably, struggled but did finish the day with a tailend wicket in his 13th and final over.
Anderson and co struggled initially after Josh Philippe put them under pressure.
“There’s going to be guys that are more rusty than others,” said Anderson.
“I thought Broady bowled a really good spell with the (second) new ball, at the back end there – and that spell at 5 or 530 in the afternoon can be just as crucial as the ones first thing in the morning.
“So getting used to coming back and bowling those spells is really useful for us.”
Philippe had a golden day, and revealed afterwards that his string of early boundaries caused Anderson a little frustration.
“I haven’t really opened since under-15s cricket, so it’s good to get back up the order and have a go against the new ball,” he said.
“I thought there was nothing to lose … a great opportunity to play against some world-class bowlers, so I just thought I’d go out and have a bit of fun – and it worked out all right.
“Jimmy Anderson wasn’t too impressed early doors … but I just sort of laughed it off, because it was great to be out there and a great experience.”
England begin their second warm-up match against a cricket Australia XI in Adelaide on November 8.
