Legendary spinner Shane Warne once tipped veteran England pacer James Anderson to become the bowling coach of the national team in overseas Test matches. Anderson, 40, is perhaps the last pacer to be playing Test cricket actively at this age. The longevity of the fast bowler has been spectacularly insane.
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Anderson has already defied several cricketing assumptions and has proved many experts wrong during the course of an almost two-decade long career. Fast bowling is the toughest aspect of the game and being able to do it at this age is a miraculous achievement to say the least. He is still at the top of his game with age not playing any sort of impact on his bowling.
Even the thought of Anderson retiring is enough to ruin the sleep of English fans. It was during the English international summer of 2020 that Warne joined the list of experts who predicted Anderson’s future. The spinner gave his opinion on how England could make the most of Anderson’s quality.
When Shane Warne Thought Of James Anderson As England’s Bowling Coach For Overseas Tests
Talking to Sky Sports, Warne had said that England should only play Anderson in home conditions. Anderson has been a beast in English conditions but his performance on away tours is mostly followed with scrutiny. Warne believed that having Anderson part of the support staff on away tours will be helpful for the youngsters.
On subcontinent tours, pacers generally don’t play that much of a role. Warne insisted that England would not want to waste Anderson by playing him in those conditions. He even called Anderson an unsure pick for the Playing XI outside of home.
“Is it worth thinking about, ‘Let’s play Jimmy Anderson at home for the next few years, get as much out of him as we can, and maybe be the bowling coach for England away from home, so he’s still keeping around the group.'”
In the home conditions, Anderson has scalped 429 Test wickets at an average and strike rate of 23.86 and 51.12 respectively. Outside England, Anderson has scalped 256 Test wickets at an average and strike rate of 29.69 and 64.26 respectively. Although the numbers aren’t poor per se, the difference is there to be seen.
Especially keeping the Ashes in mind, Anderson’s average increases to 34.01 in Australian conditions and strike rate bounces to 72.75. It is clear that the veteran pacer has not enjoyed a lot down under.
James Anderson Test Record Since 2021
However, Anderson has leveled up in the last three years. He has played 24 Tests since 2021, where he has scalped 85 wickets at an average off 19.8. His bowling strike rate has been 47.60 in these years.
The pacer played 12 matches (six home and six away) in 2021. Out of six away matches, three were in India, two in Australia and one in Sri Lanka. He scalped 39 wickets (21 away and 18 home) that year. His best bowling spell was against Sri Lanka in Galle where he had figures of 6/40.
Anderson played nine matches in 2022 (six home and three away). He could just scalp nine wickets in three away matches, whereas the other 27 wickets came in just six home fixtures. He is currently playing his third Test of 2023 which is his first home match of the season. In favorable conditions during the tour of New Zealand earlier this year, he scalped 10 wickets across a couple of matches.
