Veteran England fast-bowler James Anderson said he still has a lot more to contribute to the Test team amidst the talks of his retirement from the game.
Anderson is England’s all-time leading Test wicket-taker with 690 wickets and will be turning 41 during the ongoing fifth Ashes Test on Sunday.
“In terms of retirement I have no interest in going anywhere anytime soon. “If Stokesy (captain Ben Stokes) and Baz (head coach Brendon McCullum) say, ‘you have not got the wickets we would like’, I am absolutely fine with that but I feel like I have a lot more to give.
I have tried not to listen to the comments. For me that question has been there for the last six years, even longer. As soon as you get into your 30s as a bowler, it’s, ‘how long has he got left?’ The last three or four years I feel like I have bowled as well as I ever have,” Anderson told Sky Sports.
Anderson came into the fifth and final Ashes Test with just four wickets in the series at an average of 76.75. At The Oval, on day two’s play, he struggled initially, but was able to beat both edges of the bat and managed to take out Mitchell Marsh to pick figures of 1-67 in 26 overs, though Australia took a lead of 12 runs.
“I feel like I have been in so much control, my body is in a good place, my skills are as good as they have ever been. I don’t feel like I’m bowling badly or am losing pace or that I am on the way out. I still feel I can offer a lot to this team. I’d like to (decide when I retire from the game),” the pacer said.
Asked about his struggles in the ongoing Ashes, Anderson said, “We all know as professional cricketers that you go through lean patches. You just pray it is not in the most high-profile series you can play in! I try to look at it objectively. Yes, I have not got the wickets but I am still trying to do the job for the team and help the guy out at the other end.”
“I was pleased with the way I bowled all day (at The Oval). I felt in good rhythm and that I was getting the ball to carry through — which is unusual! I tried to bowl a lot of wobble seam on day one whereas on day two, I just tried to hit the pitch as hard as I could. I got a bit of swing and seam movement now and then but I was just trying to keep it as simple as possible,” he added.
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