He fashioned Australia's first innings collapse in the third Ashes Test with his brilliant five for 80 but James Anderson said it was fellow paceman Graham Onions who set the tone for a dominating second day for England with his early two-wicket burst.
Onions had removed Shane Watson and Michael Hussey in the first two balls to make a spectacular start for England to the second day, which saw visitors folding for mere 263 after finishing the opening day on a commendable position.
Anderson said handing the ball to Onions was a good decision and also hailed bowling coach Ottis Gibson for making fruitful strategies.
"It was probably a good decision because Graham likes to bowl long spells. Giving him the first over gave him the chance to do that. That first over from Graham Onions was very special after we talked about setting the tone early and we're now in a very good position," Anderson said.
"Ottis Gibson's done a fantastic job looking at the footage of (the Australian batsmen) and we've all looked through it ourselves.
"The plans are working really well but, if the ball's swinging and you bowl well, most teams in the world are going to have to play very well to cope with it," he added.
It was for the seventh time in his career that Anderson took a five-wicket haul but he said getting one against Australia was special.
"To perform against the best in the world is a good way of finding out where you're at. Getting wickets against the top teams is making me think I'm a decent bowler," he was quoted as saying by the local media.
The paceman also thinks that England could have done much better on the first day at the soggy Birmingham pitch.
"It swung on Thursday but we just didn't bowl enough balls in the right area. We had a good, long chat when we got back to the ground and now we are in a very good position. We've just got to kick on with the bat," he said.
Onions, who finished with impressive figures of four for 58, said he himself was surprised when he was given the ball by skipper Andrew Strauss to begin the second day's proceedings.
"I was a little bit surprised to be given the first over of the day with the high quality of bowling in our side, but it was something I needed and it couldn't have started any better for me," said the Durham man.
Humble Anderson credits Onions for Aussie batting collapse
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