The thought of James Anderson retiring is one that keeps England fans awake at night, but Shane Warne has an idea for how England can keep him around for the next two or three years.
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Anderson, after taking the first four Pakistan wickets to fall in the final Test at Southampton, moved withing three scalps of becoming the first seamer from any country to take 600 Test wickets. After taking six wickets at 41.16 in his first three Tests this summer, doubts were raised about whether he might soon call it a day, but seven wickets at 11.57 since have put paid to any questions over his continued excellence in home conditions
However, while Anderson averages a spectacular 23.81 in England, in India and Australia, the locations of England’s next two marquee tours, he averages 33.46 and 35.43. Joe Root’s side have looked to identify a set of pure pace bowlers who can help make the difference overseas, and Warne suggested Anderson take on a player-coach role, being England’s attack leader at home and bowling coach overseas.
“I’d just throw it out there, would the selectors and the ECB think, ‘Jimmy Anderson in England is as good as there is, and we think we can still get a few more years out of him. If he has to go to India or Australia or the UAE, Sri Lanka and all these different places for the next couple of years, his record’s not that great away from home’.
“Is it worth thinking about, ‘Let’s play Jimmy Anderson at home for the next few years, get as much out of him as we can, and maybe be the bowling coach for England away from home, so he’s still keeping around the group, he can pass onto the younger bowlers and help them out, and then at home, here in England, play for two or three more years.’ Is that worth throwing into the mix? Or is it just, ‘Let’s get as much out of him as we can’?”
