Book Review: Finding The Edge

The Jimmy Anderson Autobiography.

Chasing 700: A Fast Bowler’s Dance with Finality

I am piling back on a scooty being driven by a friend. We are in Dharamshala for the Test match between India and England. It’s Day 2 and we are dodging the occasional vehicle and navigating the steep and narrow roads of the Himalayan town to reach the stadium. Anderson is bowling with the 700 wicket landmark in sight and we are running late.

We enter the stadium and find it buzzing with incredible energy. The Barmy Army is getting behind Anderson, each delivery a theatre. No fast bowler has made it this far. This is a generational moment for everyone present. The chants of Jimmy Jimmy are reverberating through the stadium. Anderson takes his mark, runs in, draws Kuldeep into the edge as Foakes completes the catch. Harsha calls it an ‘Himalayan achievement’. Indeed it is.

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When the Ball Speaks: A Love Letter to Fast Bowling Through Anderson’s Eyes

Milestones are celebratory but also tell you have taken one step closer towards the end. Anderson could not go beyond 708. It’s not what he wanted. But that’s the ultimate truth of life. Everything comes with a finality. It makes sense he begins his autobiography talking about this fateful moment. A meeting with Stokes and Baz that would put an end to a glittering 22-year-long career. It wasn’t nearly half as dramatic an exit as Broad’s but it was grand. Anderson could walk back a content cricketer. A rare and cherished feeling.

I have followed Anderson’s career but not very intricately. Fast-bowling and fast-bowlers awake a different personality within me, which usually remains hidden. It’s inexplicable, it just happens. The book succeeds in doing that. Anderson and Felix White talk about swing, seam, creating angles and of course, the magic Anderson delivery. They break down the nuances, down to the minute details. Oh, the joy in reading!

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James and Jimmy: Two Lives of a Fast Bowler

The prose is so brilliant that you could experience Anderson’s personality shift across chapters. The authors have made a conscious attempt to humanize him. There is James and Jimmy - the duality of lives a cricketer lives through the length of their career. You know it is going to be a winning autobiography when the focus is on the story rather than statistics.

The narrative is unique in many ways. We get three chapters dedicated to each day of Anderson’s last Test against West Indies. Each chapter is packed with emotions, nostalgia and love. For the game and for Anderson.

Then there is the introduction to the chapters. Some of them do not mention just Anderson’s statistics. But also the others who had standout performances in that game. There is also a dedicated chapter to Broad’s Ashes spell of 2015. This reaffirms the long stated fact that bowling, just like batting, thrives in partnerships. Wasim-Waqar, Steyn-Morkel, Anderson-Broad - batters threaten but bowlers instill fear.

The authors have picked up matches and series thoughtfully as to not just throw numbers and accolades at the readers but instead provide some sort of context to them. That said, there is not much on Anderson’s many verbal altercations, one on one rivalries and lost battles. In fact, the book majorly focuses on Australia and the Ashes, which feels like an incomplete read.

Anderson is at his expressive best. The descriptions are beautiful. There is an intrinsic humor in the writing that keeps the reader engaged and you are sailing through the pages before you know it. Controversies such as Textgate are addressed, only on surface level though.

Finding the Story, Not Just the Stats: Why The Autobiography Works

When I picked up the book, I was not aware about Tailenders. It is a podcast that Anderson hosts along with Felix and others. It’s astonishing how Anderson managed to do it while still playing, given how notoriously the internet works. But it is one of the reasons why the book has turned out to be this good. It was not just a contract. There was a camaraderie between the authors and the storytelling was based on years of experience, understanding and refinement.

Writing an autobiography is becoming like a fill in the blanks exercise. With a set template, imagination and storytelling often takes a backseat. Finding the edge breaks the formula and in equal parts, delights and inspires. Entertaining but not preachy.

It romanticizes with fast-bowling just enough to make you get out of the bed, dress up and find an empty corner to start sending down deliveries. This is a big victory for Anderson and White. With Finding the Edge, Anderson has set a benchmark off-the field as well. Something that is going to be difficult to emulate.

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