James Anderson: ‘In my head, I was nowhere near retirement'

Independent

7 days ago

The body is sore, the mind frayed and frazzled by four ultimately fruitless days in the dirt but the smile on James Anderson 's face is broad. It is the morning after the night before; his long-awaited return to competitive cricket in the colours of Lancashire complete. Victory may not quite have come against Derbyshire but England's greatest ever Test bowler is back doing what he loves – and the only thing, really, that he has had to know how to do since his late teenage years.
'My body definitely knows I've started playing again – it was tough getting out of bed this morning,' he grimaces before the grin returns. 'But I absolutely loved it.'
Across more than two decades, a master craftsman of swing and seam bowling has been driven by an obsession over his art. From Galle to Grenada, o n Himalayan foothills and sun-parched South Africa plains, a Test career that sprawled the planet and 704 wickets was simplified by a singular focus on 22 yards and his chosen skill. Approach, deliver, reset, and go again and again and again.
The inevitable end, his age would suggest, is near but do not dare tell Anderson that. Across a conversation that spans the breadth and depth of a journey that began on the back pitches of Burnley Cricket Club and ended with the most magical of receptions at a packed-out Lord's, Anderson's competitive spirit is just as clear as each time he leapt languidly through his delivery stride. Having signed on for another summer in whites for the red rose, he hints at least one more – 'I'm looking forward to this season with Lancashire and then I'll think about next year' – and makes clear that a life coaching full-time is not yet for him.
'This morning I'm questioning the decision to play again, but as long as my body can cope with it, I'll keep doing it for as long as I can,' he stresses, a lilt of Lancashire humour giving way to steely focus. 'Cricket has given me a huge amount. I still absolutely love the game, especially the longer format. It's taught me so much about myself, about my character, the emotions in brings out in me, the ups and downs over four or five days – it gives you feelings that you don't get in any other walk of life.'
It is 10 months since the curtain came down on his international career, Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes pulling the cord having felt it was time to look to other auditionees waiting in the wings. Anderson has been busy since. The paperback version of his autobiography, penned in partnership with Maccabees guitarist and podcast chum Felix White, is on sale, while the pair will again go on tour later this year with their recollections of a record-breaking cricketing career. Betwixt and between, Anderson began his coaching career, a short-term stint with England giving him a first real taste of life after playing.
But it is on the enforced retirement that we must dwell. In his book, Anderson likens it to a scene from Goodfellas, a blow in the back he hadn't seen coming. Has distance, both in terms of time and stepping away the England environment, softened his feelings at all?
'I'm still a bit…' An extended pause is revealing before the appropriate word finally comes. 'Mixed on it. It's one of those things that was out of my hands. They made the decision to move away from having me in the team. That was pretty gutting at the time.
'I'd been preparing before my last Test match for the next six, 12, 18 months of Test cricket; I wasn't anywhere near retirement in my head. I felt I still had that want and hunger to play, to do the hard yards, the training, the skill work.'
It is partly that sense that has inspired the decision to plough on for Lancashire, though there is perhaps a point to prove too. An untimely calf injury meant a delayed start to the summer, but Anderson is intent on giving his all while he still can. Despite his axing, he still speaks warmly of what McCullum and Stokes gave him in his final England years in overhauling the environment, providing that last Lord's bow and the chance to stay with the group as a coaching consultant.
'If I'd just left the team after that West Indies Test match, it would have been more difficult for me to make sense of everything and deal with the fact that was the end. To stay around the team and still be in the dressing room, still trying to have an impact on Test matches, I think that was good for me.
'The reaction was above and beyond anything I'd ever expected. That last day against the West Indies: I think it was just an hour or so on that last morning but the ground was full. It was amazing to see a sea of people there.'
The warmth of feeling reflected a public who hadn't maybe yet come to terms with Anderson's exit yet either. England's youth movement has so far paid dividends, a new cast of characters adding depth to their seam attack, but there are still those who feel Anderson was harshly treated. The hierarchy has performed a volte-face in the past, a retired Moeen Ali answering a Stokes SOS on the eve of the Ashes in 2023, and I cannot help but wonder if Anderson would accept were an olive branch to be extended.
'I think the door is probably closed, to be honest,' Anderson admits, though without turning the key. 'If I got the phone call, I would seriously think about it but I just do not think that is going to happen. I don't think I could be further away from that. I think there would have to be a serious number of injuries for me to be considered.'
It is an answer given with little sense of bitterness, for Anderson sees the bigger picture. He is delighted to have seen bowlers like Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse thrive since his exit, and advises Sam Cook, England's newest seam hopeful, to stay true to himself as he takes his first bounds as an international cricketer. He chuckles at the memories of his own debut 22 years ago against Zimbabwe, self-deprecatingly bringing up the coltish 17-run over that marked an uncomfortable introduction to Test cricket before talking through the five-for that marked him out as a thoroughbred of the future. 'I think I'd only played like 12 first class games before that,' he remembers. 'It was just an incredible thing to experience as a 20-year-old.'
A private character at his core, these past 12 months have contained a certain sense of catharsis, a portrait of greater depth presented to the public. In the book, Anderson reveals the isolation he felt during his teenage years before finding his place and a purpose with a cricket ball in hand. He writes movingly about his wife, Daniella, suffering a miscarriage while he is away in Sri Lanka playing a one-day international, and having to put on a brave face as he flew home with teammate Owais Shah, expecting a baby of his own.
Opening up has not come easily to Anderson but he hopes it has had a positive impact, and he has welcomed the warmth he has felt in return. 'With the book, people could see a different side to me, the stuff away from cricket that they maybe didn't know about. Part of the point of the tour is to give people an insight into that side.
'I never really wanted people to know my business. Obviously, I get that as an international cricketer you are out there and every inch of grass that you cover is on TV and radio. You are out there for people to see, but I've got two very different sides: my home life and my cricket career. It was important to separate that, especially when I was playing for England. In the book, I talk about my wife having a miscarriage, but also going through injuries and having to lean on Daniella, and her helping through those difficult periods. It is good to share those things because everyone goes through difficult periods in their lives. I just hope people can relate to some of that.'