Anderson proves age is no barrier

The James Anderson experience is not meant to happen in English cricket. A virtually unknown fast bowler plays a few games for Lancashire, gets a surprise call-up for the Ashes series as an entire bowling attack is injured and in the twinkle of an eye leaves the Australians nodding with respect.

If there is one aspect of English cricket about which Australians persistently scoff - there are actually hundreds - it is the tendency of our players to mature about the time that Australians are planning to retire.

As they leave their teens, they are assumed to be immature, mollycoddled, uncommitted: the charge from the Great Brown Land is always the same.

So what is it about Anderson, a fast bowler still young enough to ask to be called James because "my Mum prefers it that way"? Why can he break the mould?

If his ability shone through in Australia, enough to make him the surprise choice in England's World Cup 15, his solidity impressed even more. This was a bowler who looked relatively unfazed by his sudden breakthrough, someone who encouraged trust, someone who just got on with the job. "I was actually as nervous as hell," he said.

Having broken into the England side at 19, he does not understand why it should not happen to others. "There is no reason why you can't play for England at 19 or 20," he said. "That's especially true since the opening of the Academy. That has helped me a lot. It has taught me how to deal with pressures on and off the field. There is lots of back-up for a young player these days. I hope I can be the first of many."

Anderson's conclusion then is that he is not special, it is just the system that has improved. A bowler blessed with a lively pace, good basic action and eagerness to learn has succeeded because the system has enabled it. In that case, he may set a few trends. The highlights in his hair certainly have - new styles are all the rage in this England side.

This time last year, he was in pre-season training with Lancashire, beginning his second year on the staff. If South Africa was also on his mind, it was not for a World Cup, just a Lancashire pre-season tour to Cape Town.

"I was thinking that if there were a few injuries, I might get a couple of games in the Lancashire first team," he said. "I certainly didn't think a year later I'd be in the World Cup squad. But it would be hard not to settle in easily - Nasser has encouraged me, Duncan Fletcher has helped on the technical side and Alec Stewart has been the old father figure."

The Academy in Adelaide may already have protected him. Troy Cooley, an Australian bowling coach, was concerned that by landing on the heel of his front foot in his delivery stride, he was risking serious back problems. He now lands on his sole. He is aware that his pace may have slipped from the high 80s at Lancashire last summer to the mid 80s as a result, but is confident that the reduction in pace will only be short term.

The learning curve has been steep for this product of Burnley CC. "On my debut at the MCG, I was hit for six by Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist and I thought, 'wow, they're not bad balls.'

At Hobart, Ponting again sought to hit him out of the attack, but his nerve held, and he had him caught at the wicket.

The real triumph, though, came at Adelaide. In temperatures of 45C, he bowled his 10-over spell throughout, an achievement enough for a player of such tender years, and finished with one for 12, an economy which only Phil DeFreitas and Ian Botham, once apiece, have matched during his lifetime.

"I was struggling after six overs, but we had a drinks break, and Nasser said to me that our only chance of winning the game was if I kept going.

"That is the deepest I have ever had to dig in my life. It was only afterwards that I realised that I had bowled five maidens in a row. I was just concentrating on keeping going."

It has all been an exhausting, as well as exciting, experience. Three nights ago, he turned on the television in Port Elizabeth to watch Arsenal, his team, for the first time this winter. He was gently snoring well before the final whistle.