Recently retired veteran England speedster James Anderson is eyeing a return to white-ball cricket after being encouraged by the new ball tournament in The Hundred 2024 as well. His last T20 match was the 2014 T20 Blast final before focusing on red-ball cricket towards the end of his career. However, despite his international retirement, Anderson has been bowling at the best of his abilities recently. He is currently serving as the England Test team’s mentor in their ongoing home season as well.
“I feel there is something there, that I still want to play a little bit more. Things will become clearer as the rest of the year progresses. There’s two Test tours in the winter and I’m not sure I’ll be on them in this [mentor] role,” Anderson said on the Final Word Cricket Podcast.“I watch the Hundred and see the ball swinging around in the first 20 balls and I think: ‘I can do that, I can still do that.’ I don’t know if that is a viable option, to maybe see if I could do a job in white-ball cricket. Franchise cricket is something I’ve never done.”
However, James Anderson has played 44 T20 matches so far, claiming 41 wickets at an economy of 8.47. While James Anderson’s retirement was a hot topic of discussion for several years, he led the England pace attack quite well throughout. Notably, he was asked to step down keeping the Ashes and others in mind.
“I still feel [playing domestically] is not off the table. The way that my body feels, the way I have been bowling in recent years, I still feel I could potentially have something to offer on that front. My body has at no stage started to feel like it’s 42. I will dive around the tennis court and I will still dive around the field when I’m playing for Burnley CC in five years’ time, until I literally can’t move. That’s why I want to keep going. I feel I was made to bowl quickly, to be a bowler, so while it’s still functioning, use it,” James Anderson concluded. “Bowling at the England lads in the nets, you have to have change-ups and slower balls. We constantly work it, so I don’t think [the skills and variations] will be an issue. But I don’t know how much people will want a 42-year-old bowler in their team so we’ll have to wait and see.”
