James Anderson: England stalwart set to end Test career this summer after talks with Brendon McCullum
10 May 2024, 16:20 | Updated: 11 May 2024, 12:32
James Anderson looks set to end his record-breaking England Test career this summer following talks with head coach Brendon McCullum.
McCullum is understood to have made a recent visit to the UK from New Zealand and among other items on his agenda was discussing Anderson's England future.
McCullum spoke with Anderson over a round of golf and although it is as yet unclear whether the Lancastrian has featured in his last Test, a swansong on English soil this summer seems an increasingly likely outcome.
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England play three Tests against the West Indies and then Sri Lanka, who visit Anderson's home ground of Old Trafford in August.
Anderson is England's leading wicket-taker and became just the third bowler in history to reach 700 Test wickets in March, after spinners Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan.
However, the fast bowler turns 42 in July and his returns have been dwindling in recent years, having taken just 15 wickets in his last eight Tests at an average of 50.8 in the last 12 months.
McCullum is understood to want to modify the seam attack and build towards the future with one eye on the 2025-26 Ashes.
Anderson said in March, however, that he feels in the best shape of his career - despite recognising his Test place was no longer a given.
"I'm really excited for the summer. I'm definitely in the best shape I've ever been in.
"I'm not getting any worse. I like where my game is at and I still have that enjoyment of turning up every day and trying to get better in the nets.
"My place in the team is not a given, so I've got to work hard to prove I'm worth a place in the summer."
'One of, if not the greatest England bowler'
Sky Sports News' James Cole:
"Jimmy Anderson's long, illustrious and, it's fair to say, incredible Test career will come to an end, as expected, this summer.
"The first Test against Sri Lanka in August is at Old Trafford, James Anderson's home ground, so he will be assured an incredible send-off and no-one deserves it more.
"It's testament to the man, the athlete and his professionalism, that turning 42 next summer, only now is he calling time. He's England's all-time leading wicket-taker and he'll go down as one of, if not the greatest bowler ever to play for England."
Anderson's record-breaking 700 Test wickets
Anderson claimed a staggering 700th Test wicket, aged 41, on day three of the fifth and final Test between India and England in Dharamshala, when having Kuldeep Yadav caught behind by Ben Foakes.
But he was the rawest of prodigies when ripping out Mark Vermeulen's off stump with a full and fast delivery for the first of his 700 Test scalps as he claimed a debut five-for against Zimbabwe at Lord's in 2003.
The precocious 20-year-old had been hurried into England's one-day squad in Australia only five months earlier. So rushed was the call-up, in fact, that he didn't have his name or squad number printed on the back of his shirt.
But the world certainly knew of him when, 11 international caps later, Anderson took a match-winning 4-29 to dismantle Pakistan at the World Cup.
Anderson's first England captain, Sky Sports' Nasser Hussain, recalled: "Jimmy was the most naturally-gifted bowler I had seen. He was outstanding, in a different league."
Read more about Anderson's record-breaking run to 700 wickets.
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(c) Sky Sports 2024: James Anderson: England stalwart set to end Test career this summer after talks with Brendon McCullum
