Cricket: Coach Watkinson Holds the Key to Anderson and Murali

Lancashire's coach Mike Watkinson, summoned to join the England coaching set-up only weeks before they departed for tours of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, found himself cast yesterday as the indispensable man.

Today, the opening day of the second Test here, was the moment when Watkinson's specialist knowledge became indispensable. The question: was James Anderson in the right state to take on the Sri Lankans?

England's agonising over whether to play Anderson in Kandy and gamble that he had recovered both physically and mentally from the ankle sprain suffered in a squash match in Colombo eventually rested on the judgment of the coach who has the closest insight into his character.

Watkinson has been in regular contact with Anderson over the past week, not only monitoring his fitness but determining whether he has rediscovered the verve and self-belief that over the past year has made him such an exciting addition to the England side. The advice of the coach who saw Anderson's formative weeks in Lancashire's second XI was expected to hold sway.

"Jimmy has had a rapid elevation from second XI to Test cricket in only one year," Watkinson said. "He has gone from someone who was massively shy, someone you struggled to get a 'good morning' out of, to someone who is basically the leader of the attack.

"In the past month or so he has had to handle setbacks. You can see the frustration in him. Every time he has a net he has been trying to cram three matches into one session. We have had to try to rein him in a bit. He has been getting desperately disappointed.

"He has been beating himself up a bit, giving himself a hard time. I can speak to him as a coach and as a mate. That is the atmosphere at Lancashire and that is the type of atmosphere that I have discovered here. Everyone is really approachable. You just have to use your nous about the best time to talk."

Fletcher's reliance upon Watkinson could prove a masterstroke. Not only can he gauge Anderson's well-being, he also has insights into Sri Lanka's most dangerous player Muttiah Muralitharan, formerly of Lancashire.

With the characteristically dry humour which has also made Watkinson a regular on the cricket after-dinner circuit, he played down the difficulties of discovering Murali's secrets.

"With Murali, it is a case of cricket-ball hot dogs - he talks about it morning, noon and night. You don't exactly have to put the thumbscrews on him to get stuff out of him."

With Anderson, the inner being is less easily discovered.

With an additional England coach to be appointed next winter, Watkinson might be regarded as among the favourites as a full-time bowling coach. But Fletcher may recommend that the job is offered as necessary, as this winter, when Watkinson, a former off-spinner, was called up for the subcontinent and Troy Cooley will take over in the West Indies where the quicks will flourish.

"At the moment I am really enjoying my job at Lancashire," Watkinson said. "We have made some significant steps in the last few years, such as putting our players on 12-month contracts, and I think we are going about the job of producing England players the right way.

"I have looked at this as a short-term opportunity. I don't know what will happen on future England tours. That is down to other people to decide.

"When Duncan asked me to become involved it was only a few weeks before the tours took place and it took me a bit unawares. If people have plans in the future then I would sit down and listen to what they have to say.

"I have never set long-term plans. I was planning to go into engineering when I retired as a player at Lancashire. Then they asked me to take charge of the second team for a year, then for two years and then Bob Simpson left as director of cricket and I was suddenly offered the job. It has been a succession of little steps. That is better than having big ambitions."

England yesterday confirmed that they will postpone a decision on next year's tour to Zimbabwe until February at the earliest.