James Anderson learned wobble seam deliveries by Mohammad Asif

James Anderson, England’s great fast bowler who took 640 wickets in his 169th Test, has revealed that veteran Pakistan pacer Mohammad Asif taught him how to bowl wobbling seam deliveries.

“It was before the 2010/11 Ashes, David Saker was our bowling coach. He said Kookaburra doesn’t swing for a huge amount of time, so something else in the locker as a bowler was crucial here in Australia for success. In summer 2010, we played against Pakistan and Mohammad Asif was bowling this ball which just wobbled a little bit, it was not seaming nor swinging, he was just trying to nip off the seam,” Anderson told 7Cricket.

“So I spent the whole summer practising that and working on it and was comfortable to bowl here [in Australia] which actually brought success for me throughout that series,” he added.

It should be mentioned that Asif was recognised for bowling some incredible swinging deliveries during his playing days, which helped him pick the wickets of some of the world’s best batsmen before being banned for life in 2010 following a match-fixing scandal.