But Anderson’s response in an initial exchange with Joel Wilson, in his morning spell from the pavilion end, made especially uncomfortable viewing as he appeared to dispute the umpire’s judgment and snatched his cap from him at the end of the over.
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If the celebration which followed was laced with frustration it was entirely understandable given they had chances to dismiss the same player twice before on 38 and 69, only for Joe Root to drop him off Anderson and Moeen Ali to miss him off his own bowling.
James Anderson’s untypically poor, short and very wide delivery did him little credit in the first over of another intermittently cloudy day but brought an even worse shot from Hafeez, who guided a cut straight into the fielder’s hands.
“I know I was out of order with the way I behaved back then and have apologised to both umpires”.
“It wasn’t acceptable and it was petulant”.
I’ve seen my reaction on TV and it doesn’t look great when I’m pointing at the pitch.
Typically Anderson’s temper was the one which frayed the easiest and, for all that apologised, he will nearly certainly be sanctioned by the match referee Richie Richardson at the end of this Test.
The Lancastrian’s frustrations were visible and he later said: “The situation of trying to help your team get wickets. the distraction of running on to the wicket doesn’t help”.
“I’m really pleased with the hundred I got”. “I try and control it but I don’t want to lose my edge. It’s a balancing act”.
Ali crashed a leg-side four to bring up his sixth Test half century but after Broad was caught at slip by Azhar Ali off Amir for 13, the classy number seven was out for 63 when Sarfraz pouched his fifth catch of the innings off the same bowler.
But he offered no excuse for his behaviour, saying: “That probably added to it but you have to deal with it – not every catch will be taken and there are going to be times when the opposition play well”.
Together with recalled opener Sami Aslam, who made 82, he put on 181 for the second wicket.
The Lahore-born Sami only made it to the playing eleven for the Edgbaston Test because of the fact that Pakistan’s first-choice opener Shan Masood had proved himself to be unreliable especially when facing Anderson.
Mushy also told me that if you don’t bowl (too) fast and give the ball air, it will swing.
The part-time bowler is clearly finding it hard against such good players of spin, and it could be that England need a specialist spinner if he isn’t able to get out of this rut. It was disappointing, he was quite near to his century and runs were coming easily.
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