Image source, Getty Images
- Author, Stephan Shemilt
- Role, Chief Cricket Writer
James Anderson will join the England coaching set-up as a fast-bowling mentor when he retires from Test cricket against West Indies at Lord’s next week.
The 41-year-old, the most successful pace bowler in the history of Test cricket, will end his international playing career after England told him they want to move on.
But England managing director Rob Key said: “He’s got so much to offer English cricket. We don’t want to see that go.
“When we asked him, he was keen. He is going to have a lot of options. English cricket would be very lucky if he chooses to stay in the game.”
Anderson, who has taken 700 Test wickets, is currently playing for Lancashire against Nottinghamshire in the County Championship at Southport.
He is yet to make a decision on his future with the Red Rose, but Key said Anderson will be with the England team “all summer”.
“What he does with Lancashire will probably work out after the Lord’s Test,” said Key.
“We’ve got some conversations to have after to find out what he thinks is the best thing to do. Everything so far has been him gearing up for this Test match.”
Smith is a ‘rare talent’
England have named a fresh-looking squad for the first two of the three Tests against West Indies.
With Anderson due to bow out, Nottinghamshire pace bowler Dillon Pennington has been called up, alongside Surrey’s Gus Atkinson, who has been in a previous Test squad but has not played.
Ollie Robinson has been omitted and Mark Wood will miss the start of the series following the T20 World Cup.
England have also named uncapped Jamie Smith to keep wicket ahead of Jonny Bairstow and Ben Foakes, while Shoaib Bashir replaces his Somerset team-mate Jack Leach as the frontline spinner.
Key described Smith, 23, as a “rare talent”. The right-hander has a first-class batting average in excess of 40 and has been averaging more than 50 in the County Championship this season, but usually plays for Surrey as a specialist batter, with Foakes taking the gloves.
“Sometimes you’re selecting people for what they’re going to be as well, and where you think they can progress to,” said former England batter Key.
“It’s very much the start for Jamie Smith. We feel he’s going to be a fantastic international cricketer.”
Key added that Bairstow “needs to get back to what he was a couple of years ago”, when the Yorkshireman hit six Test centuries in 2022.
“Generally his form, in all formats, has just been going slightly in the wrong direction,” added Key.
“It’s an arduous task being a keeper and you want someone who can back up series after series. We weren’t convinced that Jonny would be able to do that, especially at the stage of his career that he’s at.”
Key said that while Foakes is an “excellent keeper”, England want someone in the role at number seven who can “up the ante at times when required”.
“We feel that he can soak up pressure and when he’s batting with a batsman at the other end, he’s more than capable,” said Key.
“But his challenge and his task is to be able to bring that other side to his game.”
Bashir’s got ‘everything’ as a spinner
Image source, Getty Images
In Somerset’s ongoing Championship match against Warwickshire, left-armer Leach has been preferred to Bashir, but Key said Leach will be England’s second spinner in the immediate future.
Off-spinner Bashir, 20, made his Test debut on the tour of India earlier this year and took 17 wickets in three matches.
“I loved watching what he did in India,” said Key. “It’s the same thing where you’re picking someone because you just see that potential.
“You just think he’s got everything as a spinner, and will get better.”
Key was speaking for the first time since England’s defeat by India in the T20 World Cup semi-finals, the surrender of the title they won in 2022.
England won only one of four matches against other Test-playing teams at the tournament in the Caribbean and United States following a miserable defence of the 50-over World Cup in India last year.
Key said that reaching a semi-final was not “a bad sign”, but stopped short of giving assurances captain Jos Buttler and coach Matthew Mott will still be in charge for England’s next white-ball series against Australia in September.
“I’m not going to rush anything on that, but like we always do, we’ll start looking at what’s the best way for that white-ball team to move forward,” he said.
“At times I thought we showed how good we were and at times we were inconsistent. We’ll let the dust settle on the World Cup and then move forward from there.”