Anderson admits it is ‘difficult’ to retain World No 1 title ahead of series against Lanka

London: England pace bowler James Anderson has admitted that it will be tough for his side to retain the world’s top Test team title ahead of the series against Sri Lanka.

“The Pakistan series was a reality check for us. I think we got a bit lucky with the South Africa result in New Zealand so we now stay number one,” The Daily Mirror quoted Anderson, as saying. “It is going to be difficult to stay there, but we want to stay there as long as we possibly can. Hopefully we can kick-start the form we’ve been showing over the last 12-18 months,” he added. His statement implies a return to big scores from the batsmen, and Anderson has backed them to come good. “The batters have a point to prove because they didn’t perform as well as they can in the UAE. But I don’t see why we can’t go into this game a confident team – they’ve all had time in the middle in the warm-up games. It is just swings and roundabouts,” he added. ANI