Indian pitches and its nature due to the sub continental variations in climatic surroundings has always been a supporter of tracks that offer resistance more to the spinners than the fast bowlers. This is the only reason why touring SENA teams considers adding more spin options to their squads than the fast bowlers.
The England cricket team which is scheduled to tour on the Indian shores for a 5 match test series starting January 25 at Hyderabad under the leadership of Ben Stokes and coaching management lead by New Zealander Brendon McCullum has been all vocal about the Bazball approach they will apply in the spin friendly conditions to topple the Indians. Apart from their tactics with the bat, England’s bowling line up which has 4 spinners to their side would be led by veteran 41 year old James Anderson a fast bowler who seems to get younger by age.
The Legend called James Anderson
In the age where fast bowlers thinks of watching the red ball cricket from the shores of the ground, England 41 year old veteran James Anderson feels otherwise. The zeal to perform even at this ripe age of 41 is the success of this Lancashire based fast bowler who now stands third best in the world with 690 wickets after legendary Shane Warne (700 wickets) and Muttiah Muralitharan(800 wickets) and the only fast bowler in cricketing history who is close to 700 wickets mark in Test cricket.
The legendary pacer does not have a great record when it comes to bowling on spin-friendly tracks in Asia. Anderson took 34 wickets with no five-wicket haul to his name in 13 Tests. Anderson’s best figures in Tests in India are 4/40, which came back in the year 2006. Anderson, who has toured India in 2006, 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2021, admitted that the team will not be heavily reliant on pace bowling in India.
Fast bowler Gus Atkinson, who was in fine form in the County Championship last summer, has been called up along with Anderson, Mark Wood, and Ollie Robinson in the pace battery for tour to India and it started speculations regarding Anderson’s retirement from red ball cricket when his ex compatriot Stuart Broad aged 37 who recently retired after the Ashes series sent a hint about his retirement.
The 41-year-old James Anderson opened up about his retirement prospects and feels that there is still a lot of fuel in his tank. Anderson reckoned that he still has a lot to offer to the England team in Test cricket.
I still feel like I have go a lot to offer England cricket team- James Anderson
Veteran England seamer James Anderson has declared that he hasn’t even thought of retiring despite his long-standing teammate Stuart Broad doing so and others hinting he should do the same. The 41-year-old stated that he has a lot to offer and doesn’t want to retire only because his compatriots are.
Broad, who made his Test debut in 2007, retired from the format after the 2023 Ashes series on home soil. The 37-year-old forged a lethal new-ball bowling pair with James Anderson and retired with a staggering 604 wickets, including one off the last ball of his career.
Speaking to The Telegraph, Anderson asserted that he has a plethora of skills to win games for England. The veteran elaborated:
“Sounds brutal but you just have to move on. No thought has crossed my mind about finishing. I’m getting a lot of people coming up to me saying congrats on a great career but I keep having to explain that was Stuart, not me.
“I still feel like I’ve got a lot to offer this team. I still feel like I have got the skills to win England games of cricket so as long as I feel like that, I don’t see why I should finish just because of my age.”
The retirement rumors around Anderson amplified after his drought of wickets during the 2023 Ashes series on home soil. The right-arm seamer managed only five scalps in four Tests, averaging an abysmal 85.40.
We have bowlers who have not bowled in India before – James Anderson
As the senior-most bowler among all, the Lancashire cricketer understands the need to pass on the knowledge in the best capacity during the upcoming India tour. He elaborated:
“I have a duty to pass on information to people. We have bowlers who have not bowled in India before, so it will be a different challenge for them. We have to help where we can.
“There are only four seamers going so we will not be expecting to bowl a huge amount of seam. It is just a slightly different role. You might not bowl the overs you do in England but they are still important.”
Out of Anderson’s 690 wickets, 34 have come in India in 13 Tests at an average of 29.32. The first of the five Tests between India and England begins on January 25 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. With 41 year old pace veteran James Anderson leading the pace attack England will continue its quest to win a series in the longest format of the game, a feat that has evaded them for over a decade since last time when they achieved the feat in India in 2012.