Anderson brands follow-on 'worst invention ever' after it backfired on England

14 March 2023 , 10:10

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England legend James Anderson is not a fan of the follow-on (Image: Philip Brown/Popperfoto/Popperfoto via Getty Images)

James Anderson is not a fan of the follow-on, branding it "the worst invention ever" after it backfired on England in the second Test against New Zealand last month.

England became just the fourth side to lose a Test match after enforcing the follow on, with New Zealand winning a thrilling match by just one run. And while captain Ben Stokes insisted he had no regrets over the decision, Anderson would like to see the follow-on "banished".

Reflecting on the Test on his Tailenders podcast, Anderson said: "The follow-on is just the worst thing... the worst invention ever. If I could make a change, I'd just banish the follow-on.

"I think we did 210 overs in the field, straight. We knew historically the pitch at Wellington just gets better and better, so we thought that no matter what they get ahead of us, we could chase.

"It was still doing a bit as well, they just played a lot better in their second innings ... it was just hard work." Anderson was also the final wicket to fall in the match, getting caught down the leg side off Neil Wagner as New Zealand sealed a famous victory.

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And he felt the ball before his dismissal should have been given as a wide by the umpires, which would have seen England at least draw the match. "I watched [it] sail over my head," he added.

Anderson was the final wicket to fall in the match as New Zealand won a historic Test by just one run (Hagen Hopkins/Getty Image)

"I looked at [the] square leg [umpire], then I looked at Rod Tucker the umpire ... and I was like 'That's gone a foot over my head' and he was like 'Don't be silly mate, it's not gone a foot over your head'.

"Any other time in the game, that's given a wide." However, Anderson did concede New Zealand deserved some good fortune after narrowly losing the 2019 World Cup final to England via the obscure boundary countback rule.

"Tim [Southee, New Zealand captain] came up at the end of the game and said 'You owed us one, mate'. It was like 'yeah, fair enough'," he admitted.

Matthew Cooper