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‘In the World Cup, there was a constant sense that the ICC were watching’
England pace spearhead James Anderson says the altercation with India's Ravindra Jadeja during the Trent Bridge Test last year ‘affected’ his performance in the cricket World Cup where he claimed just five wickets in six matches.
England were knocked out of the quadrennial extravaganza from the group stages after losing four of their six games.
The 32-year-old English pacer was charged with a Level 3 breach of the ICC's Code of Conduct after India alleged that Anderson pushed Jadeja inside the pavilion as the players left the field for the lunch break on the second day of the first Test.
"I've definitely been different since that incident. And it probably affected me during the World Cup," Anderson was quoted as saying by a cricket website.
"It didn't affect me during that India series because there was still that real determination to win. I was aggressive without being over the top. But in the World Cup, there was a constant sense that the ICC were watching."
Anderson has been England's most effective bowler over the last few years. He enters the Test series against the West Indies starting on Monday needing just four wickets to overhaul Ian Botham's record tally of 383 Test wickets for England. This will also be Anderson's 100th Test.