Ian Botham opines on James Anderson and Stuart Broad: The former English captain was speaking at the unveiling of Richard-Botham Trophy.
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England’s 16-member Test squad for the upcoming three-match Test series against West Indies comprises of a six-man fast-bowling attack in Mark Wood, Chris Woakes, Ollie Robinson, Craig Overton, Saqib Mahmood and Matthew Fisher.
Having said that, irrespective of how many of these pacers England pick for the first Test in Antigua starting from tomorrow, nothing will match the experience of a combined total of 1,177 Test wickets between veterans James Anderson and Stuart Broad.
The ouster of Test cricket’s third and sixth-highest wicket-takers from the English squad has invited mixed response from several corners of the cricketing fraternity including that of both Anderson and Broad.
While former England captain Nasser Hussain believes that the pair deserves better, current Test captain Joe Root has admitted that both Anderson and Broad are disappointed and angry.
Ian Botham opines on James Anderson and Stuart Broad missing West Indies tour
Former England captain Ian Botham, who is in Antigua to unveil the Richards-Botham Trophy named after former West Indies captain Sir Vivian Richards and himself, was asked the same question while interacting with reporters during a pre-series press conference.
“Look, you move on. Time moves things on. You’ve got to look forward to the future and we can’t go on forever,” Botham told the reporters laying emphasis on the need of “looking forward to the future”.
Readers must note that a lot of men who matter in England Cricket have opened up on this not being the end of the road for either Anderson or Broad. England will take the field in the Caribbean with an eye on experimenting and testing their fast-bowling reserves.
Speaking to the media after announcing the squad last month, former captain and England’s interim director of cricket Andrew Strauss had highlighted a requirement of developing more leaders (in addition to captain Root) within the team in the absence of Anderson and Broad.
“What I do think is it gives an opportunity at the moment for people to stand up and play leadership roles they haven’t previously. We need a good solid spine to that team moving forward. We need leaders, not just the captain, and this provides an opportunity for some of the players to do that,” Strauss had said.
