Sir James Anderson - Ashes Columnist

Readers got the chance to ask Daily Mail Sport columnist Sir Jimmy Anderson what he made of an Ashes series that began with hope but ends amid scrutiny over the future of those involved.

Comparing England's cricketers socialising between matches to a stag do is completely over the top and, as someone who has lost Test series in Australia myself, I have sympathy for them.

England are painfully aware of Mitchell Starc's ability to strike early and they will be desperate to avoid a repeat this week. They need to keep him out but it won't be easy.

It won't be much consolation to Ben Stokes or the England team that lost the second Test at the Gabba, but when it comes to tours going wrong in Australia, I have been in worse situations than this.

One of the questions people have been asking in the build-up to Brisbane, given his elite record of 81 wickets in pink-ball Test matches, is how best to keep out Mitchell Starc.

JIMMY ANDERSON: England have now got to treat this as a four-Test series, and forget that the first Test happened. They've got to try to win all four matches, starting in Brisbane.

SIR JAMES ANDERSON: No matter how much you try to block out the noise as an England cricketer, you are always aware of its presence in an Ashes series. Especially one hosted in Australia.

JAMES ANDERSON: It seemed written in the stars. Over the past decade and more, our careers have become so intertwined that Stuart's 500th Test victim just had to be Kraigg Brathwaite.

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JAMES ANDERSON: I will miss not playing with Stuart this week because we have developed a good relationship on and off the field as England team-mates.

I am not privy to the plans of England’s management, coaches and selectors but to me, our 5-0 defeat in Australia feels like the end of one era and the beginning of a new one.

Thinking too far ahead is hard at this time, when the first thing on our minds is trying to get over the disappointment of losing the Ashes.

The atmosphere on the field during the last hour of the first Test in Brisbane was as hostile as I have experienced. It was all on. But I have no problem with what the Australians were doing.

Credit to the Aussie bowlers, but being bowled out for 136 was not good enough and losing six wickets for nine runs should not happen.

The sights and sounds of Sachin Tendulkar making his emotional bow from cricket on Saturday stirred mixed emotions. He was such a great player for so long that there will be a few bowlers delighted that he won’t be around any more.

A number of pundits have suggested our fantastic victory in Durham to clinch the Ashes might allow the England management the chance to rest me for the final Test at The Oval this week.

We appreciate that an Ashes series means media hype and massive public interest - and the attention is very welcome. But some of us are bewildered at the extent of the criticism that has come our way.

Barely a day goes by in this Ashes series without a fresh issue concerning the umpire's Decision Review System. We all support DRS, we accept it is still very young and we know everything is being done to try to make it work even better.

I gather Kevin Pietersen tweeted a photo of me crashed out on the physio’s couch at the end of the first Test at Trent Bridge last week. I was overwhelmed by exhaustion, a little lie-down turned into a deep half-hour kip and, if someone hadn’t woken me, I might have been there until morning.

The vast majority of cricketers in the modern game don’t walk. Personally I tend to walk, but I have no problem with Stuart Broad staying in the middle on the third day.

Mail on Sunday columnist James Anderson gives the inside track on the men who will wear the Three Lions over the coming weeks. And Shane Watson reveals all about the Aussies too.

When he is awake, Jimmy Anderson can visualise the perfect ball he intends to bowl to every Australian batsman this Ashes summer. When he is asleep, it is a different, darker story altogether.

As the only surviving member of the squad that lost the ICC Champions Trophy to the West Indies, James Anderson is desperate to make history and be part of the first England team to win a 50-over tournament.

People have suggested beating Michael Clarke’s side at Edgbaston on Saturday in our opening match of the ICC Champions Trophy against Australia will enable us to put down a marker for the Ashes.

There has been a lot of chat about a supposed management 'ban' on players talking about the Ashes. It was even suggested that anyone who did so might face disciplinary action.

In the 10 years since I made my Test debut here at Lord’s, I have experienced all manner of emotions, ranging from elation to something close to despair. But what happened when Alastair Cook threw me the ball to show it to the crowd after taking my 300th Test wicket surpassed everything. I was just overwhelmed.

Stuart Broad's excellent performance in Wellington was fantastic to see, especially bearing in mind how concerned he has been about his fitness and how it might affect his long-term future.

Looking back on some of my wicket-taking celebrations from the first Test in Dunedin has been an awkward experience. My response to getting Ross Taylor out, for example. Quite frankly, what am I doing there?

What Steve Finn could achieve is nothing short of frightening. He is so good at just 23 and, with luck over form and fitness, has so many years at the top ahead of him that he could not only set bowling benchmarks for England but seriously threaten world records as well.

I was genuinely surprised to be told that Saturday was 10 years to the day since I made my England debut, in a one-day international against Australia at Melbourne.

Not wishing to jump the gun, but I feel a series victory here in India would be every bit as much of an achievement as our last Ashes series win in Australia.

Going past Jim Laker's record of 193 Test wickets to become the leading England off-spinner last week, and now joining the 200 club here in Mumbai - this has been quite a tour so far for Graeme Swann.

India had no qualms about opening the bowling with spin - and while I'm not saying we should automatically follow their lead, when you play cricket here you have to be open to all suggestions.

There has been much talk that this may be Sachin Tendulkar's last Test series. I do enjoy bowling against him as testing yourself against the best is what playing at this level is all about.

To be honest, no one really knew how Kevin Pietersen's reintegration into the team environment was going to work.

Although a lot has been made of Michael Vaughan's laconic style, I never felt comfortable playing under him. I never felt he rated me. His language with me was seldom positive and I didn't like that.

Andrew Strauss's retirement means that the England dressing room is never going to be the same again. For one thing, it’s going to be a lot quieter.

During my career I have witnessed the end of two England captains, Nasser Hussain and Michael Vaughan. I do not believe we are seeing the end of a third.

If ever a young batsman deserved a Lord's hundred it was Jonny Bairstow. To make 95 against some of the most hostile bowling in the world is a huge feather in Jonny's cap.

Kevin Pietersen's comments after the second Test against South Africa at Headingley raised issues that have dominated the headlines.

Kevin Pietersen is one of the finest leavers of the ball in Test cricket. Not that you'd know it from his innings. To take apart one of the best attacks in world cricket in the way that he did proves what a special talent he is.

It's a shame for all concerned that our eagerly awaited series against South Africa is only going to played over three Tests.

The awful news of the tragically early death of Surrey’s rising star Tom Maynard made our match against West Indies on his home ground at The Oval a very strange and sombre experience.

It was a surreal feeling watching Graham Onions and Tim Bresnan take the new ball on Saturday. I'm on top of my game, so being left out is frustrating.

There may be those who felt I overstepped the mark when I vented my frustration on the field at Trent Bridge on Friday.

It is never nice to be questioned in the way that our captain Andrew Strauss has been recently, but it is part and parcel of the game and something you have to accept as a professional sportsman.

Jimmy Anderson's rise from humble beginnings of Burnley Cricket Club to Lancashire and a 10-year international career is one of English cricket's great modern-day tales.

I was asked if Graeme Swann and me have signed a deal whereby he calls me the best seamer in the world and I have to call him the best spinner.

A hard two-month trip to the desert ends this week and England have learned plenty of lessons from Pakistan... but we also have many reasons to be confident about the future.

Of course it would be a huge blow if we lost this Test and suffered a series whitewash. It never entered our heads that we would find ourselves in this position at the start of the series

We didn’t just let ourselves down in the First Test but we let our management and supporters down, and we are acutely aware that our performance was nowhere near good enough.

The truth behind the 'wobble seam' ball can be revealed. I learned it as an extra weapon for last winter's Ashes.

England will officially be crowned cricket’s No1 Test team if they can beat India at Edgbaston to go 3-0 up in the series. Here, leading fast bowler James Anderson chronicles exclusively for The Mail on Sunday the 10 decisive moments on an unforgettable journey.

Stuart Broad’s amazing display was just the latest example of his growing ability to turn a match on its head with ball and bat. At Lord’s last week and now at Trent Bridge, some might start to think of him as a Freddie Flintoff-type all-rounder.

Kevin Pietersen was not the only one to prove a few critics wrong at Lord's. Stuart Broad bowled magnificently having been under huge pressure over the past few weeks.

A lot of fuss was made about the Trent Bridge pitch on which we played the fourth one-day international against Sri Lanka.

Anyone watching and listening to our performance in the field during our defeat in the second ODI against Sri Lanka at Headingley might have got the impression that there is rarely a moment when we are not at each others' throats.

We are told the Decision Review System is here to stay and, while I am broadly in favour, two instances in this Test have exposed serious flaws.

The sight of Kevin Pietersen hitting those sweet straight drives in the second innings of the second Test at Lord's was one for sore eyes. If a batsman plays that shot well it shows the bat is coming down nice and straight and his balance is good.

We have made no secret of our ambition and our desire to become the best team in the world. That is not just an airy-fairy target. It is our expressed goal and we're serious.

They have been together for two years under captain Andrew Strauss and coach Andy Flower. After routing Australia 3-1 last winter in the Ashes, now they have crushed India.

It has not taken long to slip back into touring after a break that reminded us all what normal family life is actually like. We have a fantastic team spirit in this England squad.

Having watched the way Sachin Tendulkar has made some of his 99 international hundreds, you would think he'd be the last person affected by the fuss about making his 100th at Lord's.