England fast bowler James Anderson says the 1-0 Test series defeat by New Zealand was a “wake-up call”.
In losing the second Test at Edgbaston by eight wickets, Joe Root’s side went down to a fourth loss in five matches, with England suffering a first home series defeat in seven years.
“I’m trying to think of some positives to take out of the series, but there’s really not that many,” said Anderson.
“There were a couple of notable performances, but we were a bit off.”
Speaking on the Tailenders podcast, Anderson added: “It was a real wake-up call for us as a team. We’re not quite where we think we are.
“We just weren’t good enough and New Zealand were great.”
Anderson, 38, became England’s most capped player in the second Test at Edgbaston, playing his 162nd match to go past the record of Alastair Cook.
However, England’s all-time leading wicket-taker struggled with the ball against New Zealand, taking only three wickets across the series.
“For me, personally I didn’t have enough cricket going in,” he said. “I bowled 24 overs for Lancashire before it, which again is not an excuse – it’s just not ideal preparation.
“I felt rusty and then felt great on the last day, when they needed 37 to win! Now I’ve got three weeks off.”
The first Test was overshadowed by the revelation of historical racist and sexist tweets by Ollie Robinson, which were shared online on the first day as he was making is England debut.
Robinson was suspended for the second Test pending an investigation by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).
Anderson said he could “feel” for Robinson, but his tweets were “not OK”.
“He spoke to the group and was very remorseful, embarrassed and regretted what he’d done,” said Anderson.
“We’re doing everything we can to make sure we get educated. We’ve been doing workshops with the Professional Cricketers’ Association, trying to educate people as we move forward as a team.
“We’ve realised as international sportsmen we’ve got a platform and we should be using it in the right way. We’ll keep learning and trying to get better as people, and that’s all we can do.”
