Anderson elated after Ashes draw by CricketArchive Staff Reporter

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Player:	PD Collingwood, JM Anderson, MS Panesar, GP Swann
Event:	Australia in British Isles 2009

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DateLine: 13th July 2009

 

England medium pacer James Anderson backs England to get inspired from their final-day heroics against Australia in the opening Ashes Test.

 

Last pair Anderson and Monty Panesar defended and defied Australia's bowlers for 11 and a half overs and secured a draw for the hosts at Cardiff. This helped keep them level in the series heading into the second Test at Lord's on Thursday.

 

"It is huge for us. To go to Lord's in a couple of days now still level in the series is a massive boost for us," Anderson told Sky Sports 1.

 

"It was a tricky last couple of overs. We played fantastic and Colly (Paul Collingwood) was absolutely awesome. I'm just glad to get out of it with a draw."

 

Though Panesar and Anderson defied Australia for a good 10 plus overs, it was Paul Collingwood who was the mainstay of the innings. The English T20 skipper faced 245 balls for his 74, before being caught by Mike Hussey at gully off Peter Siddle with 45 minutes to play.

 

At that point England looked doomed until the last pair held firm and Panesar was then praised by Colly himself who has taken under his wing as a batting buddy this summer.

 

"It's amazing what he did today. He made a fantastic contribution to us drawing the game," Panesar said.

 

"He's been throwing me balls and working really hard with me on my batting and it has paid off today."

 

England captain Andrew Strauss admitted his side were "very, very thankful" to get away with a draw and praised Collingwood.

 

The hosts had skittled to 46/4 at one stage and were looking down and out at that stage.

 

"All day we were not quite in the contest. We lost wickets early on but all credit must go to Paul Collingwood - he was outstanding," Strauss said.

 

"He does it time and time again for us in pressure situations. I can't say enough good things about him.

 

"Also we have to mention Jimmy and Monty. The batsmen shouldn't have let them get in that position, but they showed a lot of character.

 

"To be fair they kept their heads and in a pressure situation that is hard to do. We are proud of them and we are proud to get a draw but we are also aware that we have a lot of work to do between now and the second Test.

 

"Thankfully we got away with it and hopefully we can come out and do better at Lord's.

 

"We've not given away too much momentum, which is important in back-to-back Tests. We are just very, very thankful to get a draw and we can take pride in the fight we showed."

 

Collingwood was as usual understated after the match and though admitted England had done well to save the Test, warned his mates to improve with the second Test just four days away.

 

"It was important to try and keep some momentum. Thankfully it is still 0-0 but we know we have got to be better on Thursday," he said.

 

"We can take a lot of confidence out of this game. We showed great character and heart, there is a lot of passion in that dressing room so we can take a lot from this."

 

Collingwood also said that after his dismissal he thought the game might be lost.

 

"I knew what I had to do in that situation and that was to bat for three sessions," he added.

 

"It is a difficult thing to do and in the end I probably gave my wicket away which was disappointing.

 

"In the end it was close, closer than we would have hoped for and at one point we looked dead, but the boys at the end did well.

 

"There are some happy people in that dressing room now. Realistically though we know we have to improve for Thursday."