Perhaps this was why Stokes went all out in his praise of Anderson,who is due to turn 41 on day four of the game,as a member of a pace attack that will also feature Broad for the fifth and final match in the series,plus Mark Wood and Chris Woakes.
“James Anderson is the greatest fast bowler to play the game,” Stokes declared. “And he’s still looking as good as he was two years ago,although he hasn’t had the impact he would have liked in this series.”
Queried about some other fast bowling greats,such as Glenn McGrath,Curtly Ambrose,Dale Steyn and Wasim Akram,Stokes spoke in terms of recency.
Loading
“I only faced Steyn,” he said. “I didn’t face McGrath,I didn’t face the other guys. I’ve faced a lot of them,been on the field a lot with them and nearly 700 Test wickets,I think is phenomenal to do it and all around the world as well.
“Everyone’s got an opinion on those kinds of things and in my opinion James Anderson is the greatest bowler to play the game.“
Stokes said that the circumstances of the series,including the fact that the Old Trafford Test was washed out,meant that Broad had enough fuel left in the tank to get through all five games.