Mind over matter for Jimmy Anderson

11:14am Wednesday 14th May 2008

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BURNLEY'S James Anderson is striving to master the mental side of the game he believes has hampered his progress to becoming one of international cricket's best bowlers.

England paceman Anderson, 25, has been plagued by Jekyll and Hyde performances throughout his career, most recently in the 2-1 win over New Zealand when he was outstanding in Wellington but out of sorts in Napier.

Having taken nine wickets against Durham last week, he has begun the 2008 summer impressively and appears set to keep his place for the first npower Test against the Black Caps at Lord's tomorrow.

As well as physical preparation, however, Anderson has been addressing the mental side of the game in a bid for consistency.

"It has been something that has probably hampered my progress in the last couple of years," said Anderson.

"It is still quite hard for me to understand how I can go from a Test like Wellington to a Test like Napier in the space of a few days.

"But it is something I have been working on with the coaches; to try to figure out what it is that happened, to try to put in consistent performances.

"Some days it just comes from my first over and on others it doesn't come straight away, so I have got to work harder to find that rhythm.

"I have been trying to work out whether it is because I have been trying too hard to find that rhythm.

"I have to find a way if the rhythm does not come, I have to find something to help me not panic. Rather than tensing up and struggling to find it."

When he is good, he is very, very good and the five-wicket haul in Wellington was reminiscent of his form in his halcyon first year in an England shirt.

"I was not thinking of a great deal, the ball was obviously swinging, the pitch was helping, I felt comfortable, I was enjoying it and I wasn't really thinking about anything," he said of that display.

"When the rhythm didn't come as quickly in Napier maybe I was trying a bit too hard to find it, fighting myself, and that is when I lose the consistency."

A remodelling of his action and subsequent stress fracture of the back, which sidelined him for the entire 2006 international summer, stymied his progress towards his career goals.

"I've always been quite a serious character," added Anderson, who grew out the blond flashes in his hair long ago.

"This is my job, I want to be the best I can be at what I do and I feel like I have got the talent and ability to be in the top 10 in the world in both forms of the game.

"I have not shown anything near that at this moment in time - I have been around the team for four or five years now so it is about time I started putting in the performances."