London: Veteran England pace bowler Jimmy Anderson is eagerly looking forward to the historic Test series in Pakistan, saying his teammates are “just chomping at the bit” of an exciting challenge in the sub-continent.
The opening Test will be played at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium from December 1, which will be followed by matches in Multan and Karachi. The Ben Stokes-led England are touring Pakistan for the first time in 17 years and the 40-year-old Anderson is the only member of the squad to have toured the country before, in 2005, but he only featured in tour matches and ODIs.
Pakistan is the only cricket-playing country where the veteran quick — the highest wicket-taking pace bowler in the world — has yet to play a Test during his more than two decades of professional cricket.
“(We are) really excited,” Anderson was quoted as saying by planetsport.com. “Especially after the summer we had in Test cricket, we felt like we were building something and we want to keep that kind of momentum building and to be a part of that in the summer was amazing.
“Then, to be a part of what is a really exciting challenge for us out here… Different conditions, different to what we will have experienced before as a group. It’s a really exciting challenge and I think all of us are just chomping at the bit.”
Earlier this year, Australia became the first of the three big cricket-playing countries to tour Pakistan with the visitors under Pat Cummins clinching the series 1-0.
“We’re trying to make sure we (the bowlers) have all bases covered for every eventuality and make sure we know what fields we might set, talking specifics about their batters as well and trying to work out plans for them.
“But I think, at this level, it’s happened for a few years in the Test team in particular where we, I wouldn’t say we’re self-sufficient, but we do look after each other, and we’ve got great analysts.
“We’ve got great coaches all around us and some of the best captains the world has ever seen in our group, so we can pick their brains as well and we feel like we’ve got what it takes to take 20 wickets in each Test match,” he added.
–IANS