Anderson apologises for 'unacceptable' behaviour

James Anderson, the England fast bowler, has conceded that his behaviour was 'unacceptable' during the second day's play against Pakistan at Edgbaston on Thursday (August 4). As a result, Anderson apologised to both the on-field umpires Bruce Oxenford and Joel Wilson.

The seamer, who was warned twice for running on the pitch by umpires, appeared to have reacted strongly and later admitted that he went through a bad phase during the day's play. "It was a frustrating day," Anderson said. "I had a bad half-hour where I let things get to me. I've apologised to both umpires as my behaviour wasn't acceptable. It was a bit petulant. I was a bit out of order at one point. I have always had a bit of an issue running on the wicket and I know I am tight. I wasn't convinced that I had [run on the pitch], but Bruce had the third or fourth umpire in his ear telling him I was.

"Having seen my reactions on TV, it doesn't look great when I'm pointing at the pitch. I don't necessarily think it was what I said, it was just the way I behaved. I had a bad half-hour, I've apologised and hopefully that will be the end of it."

Pakistan finished the day on a strong note by scoring 257 runs for the loss of only three wickets with Azhar Ali notching up a century. Out of the three wickets, Anderson only managed one as he removed Mohammad Hafeez in the very first over of the day. He could have had Azhar Ali's wicket as well had Joe Root not spilt a catch at slip. The 34-year-old admitted that the dropped catch also had a part to play in his behaviour.

"The dropped catch probably added to the frustration, but you have to try and deal with things like that," he said. "There are going to be times when catches go down. There are going to be times when the opposition plays well, as they did today. They played really well. The pitch has lost some pace. It didn't have the zip it had on the first day. But we did a good job.

"We created chances and it that catch had stuck, who knows what might have happened. There was some good bowling and some average batting that got us into this situation. Today I thought we bowled reasonably well. But we could have bowled slightly better. We had chances and we didn't take them. At this level you get punished if you don't take your chances."

Anderson went on to reveal that he tries to balance his behaviour on the field so that he doesn't lose the 'competitive edge'. "That competitive edge has helped me throughout my career. I know there are times I can get close to that line. I try to control it, but I don't want to lose that competitive edge. It's a balancing act."