As per usual, Jimmy Anderson steals the show

ELIZABETH BOTCHERBY AT EMIRATES OLD TRAFFORD: Anderson made his long-awaited return for Lancashire, teeing up an historic first meeting with Glamorgan’s Marnus Labuschagne. It lasted five balls

Scorecard

A wide eyes emoji followed by a seven-digit Twitter handle: @jimmy9.

That’s all Lancashire’s media team had to do to send cricket journalists up and down the country into a frenzy. Diaries cleared, press access requested, internet browsers scrolled in blind panic for travel and weather updates: Jimmy Anderson was finally ready to don the Red Rose again.

Thursday’s match against Glamorgan would be his first red-ball outing since the fourth Test in Ahmedabad on March 6 – a match which no one in England colours wishes to dwell on – and his first for Lancashire since the start of July 2019 when he took two for 39 against Durham in Sedbergh.

However, the real reason the the press box swelled from the half a dozen in attendance for Lancashire versus Northants a fortnight ago – barely enough for a decent game of French cricket – to a whole XI plus water boys and jumper carriers was the opportunity to watch Anderson take on Marnus Labuschagne for the first time.

A clash of the titans. One of the greatest fast bowlers of all time versus an Australian whose rise to prominence over the past two years has been nothing short of meteoric. A man 11 wickets shy of 1,000 in first-class matches against a newly-crowned Sheffield Shield champion with 844 runs in his past nine matches.

There were, however, several hurdles to navigate before we reached D-Day.

First-up, the toss. What if Lancashire were put in to bat? Would the winning captain, be it Dane Vilas or Chris Cooke, be so cruel as to deprive us of this spectacle on day one? Would we be able to remember the epic introductions crafted in anticipation of their over-hyped meeting in a couple of days’ time? Given the forecast, would Lancashire actually have a chance to bowl?

Glamorgan’s Cooke won the toss – time stopping for a moment – and chose to bat. Crisis averted, progress to the next hurdle.

Stage two: the weather. Banks of grey clouds rolled across the Trafford skyline, their progress tracked with much interest by those in the firing line, and, barely three minutes before the clock tolled 11.00am, a light mist of rain began to fall. Once again, we held our breath.

Thankfully, it would prove to be the briefest of showers, the weather gods themselves keen to see the ageless Jimmy Anderson bowling on home turf.

Jimmy Anderson available to Lancashire against Glamorgan as England Test summer preparations ramp up

At 11.25am, out walked Lancashire’s number nine, casually collecting the new ball, marking his run-up for the million-and-first time, patiently waiting to run away from the eager eyes watching on from the Brian Statham End. It was a picture postcard scene, just missing the Lancashire faithful in the stands or a bedsheet emblazoned with 'Welcome home, Jimmy!' billowing from a window of the Hilton Park Inn.  

His much-anticipated first over passed by without incident. One, four – David Lloyd evidently missing the memo about who the star of today was – and four dot balls, the second of which troubled the stumps enough to elicit a lone 'ooh là là' from the cheap seats.

Over the next ten overs, thoughts gradually began to stray away from cricket – Hull City’s promotion, Wes Hoolahan at Cambridge United, asparagus soup. Meanwhile, on the pitch, Anderson and Saqib Mahmood – the master and apprentice of English fast bowling – controlled proceedings, much to satisfaction of the England boffins in attendance. Joe Cooke and Lloyd adapted to their part, punishing the rare loose deliveries while leaving enough close-calls to get hearts fluttering.

Then, with the fourth ball of the 11th over, it happened. Two balls after being edged for four, Mahmood ripped through Cooke’s off-stump, sending the opener back the changing rooms for 15 and ushering in the dish of the day – number 99, Marnus Labuschagne.

Unfortunately, Anderson was no longer bowling, his pre-lunch spell had been completed without incident – thirteen conceded in six overs – and Luke Wood and Danny Lamb were now in charge of the attack.

Vintage stuff from Jimmy Anderson to remove Marnus Labuschagne! ☝️pic.twitter.com/DxXYrEWf7b

— The Cricketer (@TheCricketerMag) May 6, 2021

The latest hurdle: could Labuschagne survive 40 minutes until lunch?

Fortunately for the media (and, obviously, Glamorgan), he did. He needed 24 deliveries to get on the scoreboard, poking Wood through cover for four, before crunching two more off the final deliveries of the session, beginning his exit from the field before the second had crossed the rope.

And so, at 1.43pm, after a helping of lamb curry/tagine/stew (who knows?), a short rain delay and a sneaky single from Lloyd, the moment we’d waited 163 minutes for had finally arrived: Jimmy Anderson versus Marnus Labuschagne.

The battle lasted five balls.

The first four were uneventful – an awkward edge to backward point, a theatrical leave, one touched to mid-on, and struck high on the thigh pad; the fifth, delayed by Lloyd hitting four boundaries off Mahmood to reach his 15th first-class half-century, was nicked to Vilas. Jubilation for Anderson, Labuschagne forced to depart for an uninspiring 12 off 56 deliveries… and the press box? Left scrambling for a replay.

Kiran Carlson's education is nearly complete

Fortunately – depending on your point of view, of course  - we had plenty of time to revel in Anderson’s brilliance as the weather limited the afternoon’s play to sporadic overs and several well-intentioned effort to remove the covers.

A final, audacious attempt to re-start play commenced at 5.00pm and half an hour later, with Manchester’s glass skyscrapers ominously invisible on the horizon, Wood completed the 35th over. We survived 21 minutes before the heavens opened, including two overs by a certain someone from the James Anderson End and a lovely diving catch from Vilas to remove Lloyd, and were finally put out of our misery shortly before 6.00pm.

Spare a thought for poor old Lloyd. On any other day, the Welshman would be a shoo-in for the headlines, withstanding the efforts of Anderson and Mahmood to post a fluid 78 not out from 129 deliveries, rising above the noise while his three batting partners struggled.

But, on this occasion, his fifty becomes nothing more than a footnote. Instead, the day belongs to Anderson and his historic first encounter with Labuschagne - a pleasing result for him, Lancashire and English fans, but one which leaves a lingering regret that it didn’t blossom into the titanic battle many expected. 

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