Cricketers playing Test matches in their 40s will soon be a thing of the past because of the changing nature of the sport, England pacer James Anderson said.
Anderson, who turned 40 last month, made his Test debut against Zimbabwe in May 2003 and has gone on to claim 657 wickets in 172 matches.
He is still going strong and is set to lead the England attack in the first Test of the three-match series against South Africa, starting today at Lord’s.
Photo: Reuters
Graham Gooch, an opening batter, was the last men’s Test player to play for England in their forties, making his final appearance at the age of 41 in November 1994.
The last seamer to represent England in that age bracket was Les Jackson, who made the last of his two Test appearances at the age of 40 — 12 years after his debut — in 1961.
Anderson said that long-time teammate Stuart Broad, who is 36, might go on to be a 40-year-old Test cricketer, but doubts anyone else will.
“No one will be stupid enough,” Anderson said.
“Everything that has gone in the world with franchise cricket, the Hundred, short forms of the game, I can’t see anyone wanting to play Test cricket for this long,” he said.
Anderson was dropped for the tour of the West Indies in March before returning to the team this summer for the series against New Zealand and then the one-off Test with India, where he claimed a 32nd five-wicket haul of his remarkable career.
Anderson said his passion for the game remains.
“I feel proud I’ve got to where I have. I feel fortunate as well that I’ve still got the love for the game and the desire to get better and still do the training and the nets and whatever else that comes with it,” he said.
“Because with a lot of people that’s the first thing that goes and that’s when you start slowing down and winding down. But for me, I feel like that passion is still there. So I feel fortunate for that. I feel fortunate that my body’s still functioning properly and allowing me to do the job that I love.”
Anderson has contemplated retirement.
“Probably [I thought about it] the last three tours of Australia,” he said, laughing.
“The biggest one is when you get an injury — the only time I’d ever think: ‘Can I be bothered going through the whole rehab process?’ A few years ago, I had quite a few calf issues. That’s when you’ve got to think about whether you want to do it or not.”
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but