That James Anderson started off the fourth Test between England and South Africa at Old Trafford from the ‘James Anderson End’ was no small feat by any means. Not only did he richly deserve it, but it was also fitting that he got the first wicket of the match from the very same bowling end — it was an ode to the ‘King of Swing’ by the ‘King’ himself. England, after all, has always been his fortress and nobody has ever dared to prove otherwise.

Those who follow cricket know that James Anderson needs no introduction. He is, arguably, the best fast bowler England has ever produced. With 493* wickets in 127 Test matches under his belt at an average of 27.67* at the time of writing this piece, some might even argue that he is one of the few legends of the game who have redefined the art of fast bowling in modern day cricket ... unless one takes a closer look at his stats.

Yes, the numbers may well be full of deceptions, but, they do, however, give a fair idea of how a player fares when he plays in different conditions all over the world. And since there is no other way to gauge the players’ consistency let’s just stick to using them for now.

James Anderson, who last week reached the number one ICC ranking among bowlers, has been dubbed the ‘King of Swing’ by the British media. But a closer look at his stats reveals a paper tiger

Anderson – the ‘King of Swing’, a nickname given to him by The Telegraph, averages 35.36 with the ball when he plays away from England. His Strike Rate (SR) goes well above 67 as compared to 50 when he plays at home. Of all the 493* wickets he has taken so far, 322* have come at home at a startling average of 24.59*, if one is to go by the simple rules of mathematics that accounts for 65 percent of all his wickets.

Anderson has taken 22 5-fers in his career up till now, an impressive number by all means, unless one realises that only four of those have come while playing away from home. For a player of his stature, these numbers are truly appalling. In 53 matches that he played at neutral or away venues, he has only managed to get four 5-fers in 97 innings.

Against Australia, the archrivals, he averages 38.44 with the ball and his SR skyrockets to 69.34 when he plays Down Under as compared to 33.36 with a SR of 61.45 when he plays against them in England. Considering that he has been the spearhead of the English bowling attack for a decade now, one expects him to bowl better with the Kookaburra ball as well.

It isn’t surprising that most of Anderson’s wickets have come while bowling with Dukes at home. Dukes, popular for swinging more in the air than a Kookaburra ball, is used only in England and West Indies in Test cricket. The rest of the Test-playing nations use either Kookaburra balls or SG balls. With conditions more conducive for swing, green-top pitches and Dukes in his hand, Anderson becomes a walking nightmare for the batsmen.

Against South Africa in South Africa, his bowling average gets even uglier. Averaging 39.91 per wicket with the ball and having a SR of 75.63, one must then wonder what happens to the ‘King of Swing’ when he plays in other parts of the world. And unfortunately, it doesn’t end there. The point is further validated by his bowling average against the same opposition at home. Against the Proteas, he averages 29.74 with the ball in England reflecting a stark difference in his performances at home and away unquestionably.

Anderson turns into a demigod and wreaks havoc on the Indian team for fun when he plays them at home. Though to his credit, he is the only bowler in the world, apart from Junaid Khan, to have troubled Virat Kohli on a consistent basis. His bowling average goes down to 25.88 as compared to 33.46 when he plays against them in India. There is a crystal clear difference between his SRs at home and away as well when he is up against the Indian side. His SR against them at home is 51.26 as compared to 71.50 in India!

There is nothing to write home about Anderson’s away bowling record except for his strenuous bowling efforts against Pakistan in the UAE. Even against New Zealand, the difference between his bowling averages at home and away is disturbing to say the least. Against the Kiwis, the ‘King’ averages 36.27 with the ball in their backyard as compared to the Garneresque 22.26 in his own!

It is the English media that has turned Anderson into some godlike figure. Yes he has earned the right to have a bowling end named after him. After all, most of his memorable spells came in England. But, to compare him with the likes of Dale Steyn is not only an insult to the man he is being compared with but also an insult to human intelligence. Steyn has phenomenal bowling averages all over the world.

Anderson, at best, should be compared with the man he shares the new ball with — Stuart Broad. Even then, the latter proves to be a better bowler statistically than him.

Why is it that the Asian players have to ‘prove a point’ by performing overseas while the English players get a free pass by only performing at home? People tend to have a problem with Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja when they pick most of their wickets by bowling on ‘dustbowls’. Why can’t the same be said about James Anderson — the blue-eyed boy of the English media?

There is no denying that the game has changed, and with the advent of T20, new set of rules and thick bats, the batsmen now, certainly, have an edge over the bowlers. But should the definition of the ‘legends of the game’ change too? For instance, if Ashwin and Jadeja decide to retire from Test cricket with immediate effect, will they be considered as legends to have embraced the game of cricket because they average 25 and 23 with the ball respectively after 52 and 32 Test matches?

Will nobody ask them to perform in England, Australia and South Africa before they could be considered as ‘one of the modern greats’? Will they be talked of in the same breath when the English media talks about how Anderson is a modern-day great? Irony did die a thousand deaths last year when James Anderson came up with a rather bizarre statement about Kohli after he scored over 600 runs in the India v England Test series in India.

The man, who is known for picking up most of his wickets at his home, was mocking the man who has scored heaps of runs in every corner of the world. According to Anderson, it was because of the ‘home pitches’ (read: home advantage) that Kohli’s batting flaws weren’t exposed. Has James Anderson ever bothered to check his own bowling record before he made such a bold claim?

It was a ridiculous statement for a man who has literally thrived on bowling in home conditions. There is absolutely no doubt that Anderson has single-handedly won many games for England but most of them were won in home conditions. If only the end result should be taken into account then the same should be applied to the Asian players as well. The next time Ashwin rips through the batting line-up of the opposition on a dustbowl in India, he should be lauded and not criticised for using the home advantage in his favour.

As Anderson nears the 500-wicket milestone, the following questions remain unanswered: should ‘one of the greats’ of the game have to rely heavily on the home conditions to get more wickets? Should he not perform equally well all across the globe? Should it not be expected of him to bowl better even on the flattest of the surfaces?

While the English media rejoices in the achievements of Anderson, perhaps, a little self-reflection will do no harm for the man of the moment.

The writer is a member of staff
He tweets at @HumayounAK

Published in Dawn, EOS, September 17th, 2017