Anderson savours special day

James Anderson rated England’s perfect performance to take charge of the fourth Ashes Test Sunday as one of his greatest days in Test cricket.

The tourists enjoyed a day they would never forget as they bowled out Australia for a record low 98 total at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and then cruised to 157 without loss by stumps on the first day.

England, who need to win one of the remaining two Tests to retain the Ashes, were in the driving seat to claim their second Test victory of the series with fine weather forecast over the last four days of the match.

Anderson led a disciplined English bowling attack with four for 44 off 16 overs and now has 15 wickets for the series.

“In an Ashes series to bowl Australia out for less than 100 and then be 150 for none at the end of play is just unheard of, really,” Anderson told a press conference on Sunday.

“Today was when all those bits of luck came together and we got the nicks that we’ve missed in the past.

“It was one of those days where everything came off.”

Anderson and his fellow seamers, Chris Tremlett (4-26 off 11.5 overs) and Tim Bresnan (2-25 off 13 overs), relished the pitch conditions after skipper Andrew Strauss won the toss and put Australia in to bat.

The Australians were never able to settle on the lively wicket with the bowlers extracting swing and movement off the pitch and they were bundled out off 42.5 overs in 195 minutes. AFP