May be I needed someone to tap me on the shoulder, says James Anderson on retirement

New Delhi: James Anderson, whose international career concluded with England’s Test against the West Indies at Lord’s in July, reminisced about his retirement, suggesting that he may have required nudge from the team management to make the decision.

Anderson’s international retirement, where he took 704 Test wickets, the most by any bowler from his country, was preceded by him being called to the Dakota Hotel in Manchester, where he was told by Brendon McCullum, Ben Stokes and Rob Key that they were looking to blood new fast-bowlers ahead of the Ashes next year.

‘I’ve been in that position before, when Andrew Strauss said we were going in a different direction (in 2022, only for Anderson to return in a matter of months). But this time, it felt a little more personable. I left that meeting not feeling happy, but not as angry as I thought I would.”

“Retirement is a weird thing - everyone always said you’ll wake up one day and think, “Yeah, I’m done”. I never got that, thought I had more, so maybe I needed someone to tap me on the shoulder,” said Anderson to Daily Mail on Saturday.

Though Anderson has now transitioned into a fast-bowling coach role for England, putting his name up for the 2025 IPL mega auction came as a big surprise for the cricketing world. Anderson last played a T20 game in 2014 and has now registered for the mega auction at a base price of INR 1.25 crore.

‘I’ve been thinking about it for a while. I don’t know if it’s a stupid idea or whether there’s actually something in it, and I think it’s now or never, basically. I can’t come back to it in two or three years and think I’m going give it a go.”

“It is a little itch to scratch, and maybe I won’t get picked, but I just want to see. I had started to think recently about playing some form of cricket again and if I can’t play Test cricket, do I want to keep playing red ball for Lancashire?”

“That takes a lot out of you, but four overs feels manageable. I’ve never played IPL, learning a bit more will help me with coaching and I’m just intrigued. I feel like I’m still fit and can take wickets. I know I can bowl,” added Anderson.

Anderson signed off by revealing got he Harry Brook out in the nets during the Test series in Pakistan, which convinced him he still has something to offer as a player. “When we were in Pakistan, I was doing nets with the lads, helping out. I got Harry Brook – he nicked one behind if I remember rightly. I thought to myself, yeah, there was something still there. Let’s see if it goes anywhere.” IANS

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