“Hope I will get to play at my home ground”: James Anderson pens heartfelt note about wanting to play for England at Old Trafford

James Anderson pens heartfelt note: The veteran English pacer expressed disappointment at the way in which the Test series against India ended.

Veteran England fast bowler James Anderson isn’t too pleased with the manner in which the recently concluded Test series against India came to an end with the visitors leaving England without playing the fifth Test due to a COVID-19 scare in their camp.

The development resulted in Anderson not getting to play a Test match at his county home ground, i.e., Old Trafford, Manchester. Readers must note that even one bowling end at Old Trafford is named after Anderson.

Anderson was the third-highest wicket-taker in the series with his 15 wickets in four matches coming at an average and strike rate of 24.66 and 65.4 respectively.

Being devoid of playing at home, Anderson remains unsure about when he would get to play an international match in Manchester as the venue isn’t scheduled to host one next summer.

Old Trafford, which had last hosted a Test against Pakistan last year, will be hosting a T20I and an ODI against India and South Africa respectively according to the recently released fixtures for England’s international summer 2022. However, no Test match has been allotted to Manchester despite England playing six home Tests next year.

James Anderson pens heartfelt note about wanting to play for England at Old Trafford

Anderson, 39, had bowled the second-highest number of overs (163.3) in four Tests against India and has no doubters when it comes to fitness or bowling long spells. Having said that, there still remains no guarantee that a pacer of his age would continue to play till 2023 in a bid to play one last Test at his home ground.

In nine Tests at Old Trafford since first playing there in 2004, Anderson has picked 31 wickets at an average and strike rate of 24.29 and 47.4 respectively.

Before throwing light on an individual goal in his latest Instagram post, Anderson also felt for Lancashire Cricket and bountiful fans who had made special arrangements to watch the fifth Test between England and India.

While a final decision on the same is yet to be made, but BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) have offered the ECB (England Cricket Board) to reschedule the Test match in the future. With India scheduled to tour England again in 2022, there can’t be a better opportunity for England to host India for a one-off Test in addition to six white-ball matches.