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FILE: England's James Anderson acknowledges the crowd after taking his 700th Test wicket. (Reuters)
It has been ten months since England Test great James Anderson retired from international cricket post the first Test against West Indies at the Lord’s. While the 42-year-old was told by the England team management including coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes that ‘it’s time for them to move on’, the former England bowler has revealed ‘He wasn’t anywhere near retirement in his head’.
“I’m still a bit mixed on it. It’s one of those things that was out of my hands. They made the decision to move away from having me in the team. That was pretty gutting at the time. I’d been preparing before my last Test match for the next six, 12, 18 months of Test cricket; I wasn’t anywhere near retirement in my head. I felt I still had that want and hunger to play, to do the hard yards, the training, the skill work,” Anderson told The Independent in an interview.
It was in May last year that the England team management including ECB managing director Rob Key, McCullum and Stokes told Anderson about him not being in their scheme of things and the team management wants to move on from Anderson. The 42-year-old, who had played 187 Tests with 700 wickets under his belt at that time, announced his retirement the same week and played his last Test in the form of the first Test against West Indies at The Lord’s in June, where he picked up four wickets.
Later that week, Anderson joined the England team as bowling mentor for the remaining Test matches followed by him extending the role further in the year. “If I’d just left the team after that West Indies Test match, it would have been more difficult for me to make sense of everything and deal with the fact that was the end. To stay around the team and still be in the dressing room, still trying to have an impact on Test matches, I think that was good for me. The reaction was above and beyond anything I’d ever expected. That last day against the West Indies: I think it was just an hour or so on that last morning but the ground was full. It was amazing to see a sea of people there.” Anderson added in the interview.
While Anderson has signed for English County team Lancashire for this season, the 42-year-old has still not counted his return to International cricket as impossible. “I think the door is probably closed, to be honest. If I got the phone call, I would seriously think about it but I just do not think that is going to happen. I don’t think I could be further away from that. I think there would have to be a serious number of injuries for me to be considered.” concluded Anderson.
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