The England Test captain Ben Stokes wants to see the veteran England pacer James Anderson be their fast bowling coach for the upcoming trip to Australia in late 2025. The medium pacer will play the mentor role of the side for the rest of the ongoing summer, after ending his 188 Test career with 704 wickets.
Being an experienced player for 22 years of international cricket, the Burnley-born knows the conditions of Australia pretty well, and given England would be going with a new set of bowlers, his advice on the conditions will be quite vital for young pacers.
It wasn’t the decision of the pacer though to bring the curtains down, on his career, as it needed a tap on the shoulder from the head coach of the team in the red-ball format, Brendon McCullum to force the 42-year-old to retire from the game.
‘I am really excited to see how it goes’- Ben Stokes
The premier all-rounder of the England side, Ben Stokes was asked whether Jimmy might turn his mentor role into a more formal position in the England side, by the time they aim to regain the Ashes in later 2025, the New Zealand-born Stokes advocated for that decision.
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‘Yeah, definitely. That’s why we’re asking him to stay around.’ Ben Stokes replied. ‘If he’s got the desire to help bowlers progress like he did with his own career, honestly I can’t think of a better person to able to influence all the fast bowlers. I’m really excited to see how that goes.’
Anderson finishes with the third most wickets in the longest format, only behind the topper Muttiah Muralitharan (800 scalps) and the second position holder Shane Warne (708).
‘I’m definitely not going to tell someone how to bowl. I’ll be a sounding board – I’ll be there if they need me.’ Anderson expressed. ‘I’ll watch every ball they bowl and try to help them as much as I can.’
England were blessed with the inclusion of a young pace bowler- Gus Atkinson, who made life difficult for the West Indies batters during the first of the three-match series at Lord’s. The pace of the Surrey bowler was quite impressive for the hosts, while his terrific line and length made him a great option for the upcoming Ashes.
‘He (Gus Atkinson) is incredibly skillful. He used the Lord’s slope to his advantage. 12 wickets on debut at Lord’s, what an amazing start.’ Ben Stokes noted at the end of the first Test, which England went on to win by an inning and 114 runs.
At the post-match press conference too, when the Durham player was asked whether he sees Anderson being around these young players in the future, he spoke about the learnings they would get from the high experience of the Lancashire bowler.
‘Talk about the young bowlers. Gus coming in and the other guys as well.’ The England Test captain Ben Stokes observed. ‘You can tell they have someone like Jimmy Anderson speak to them and offloading his learnings over his career. I think it’s going to be great for us going forward.’
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Atkinson picked up seven wickets in the first innings, giving away only 45 runs in 15 overs, before extending the success with another five-wicket haul in the second innings.
England’s lead fast-bowling coach at the moment is Neil Killeen, the former Durham seamer, even though his involvement in the red-ball side is quite limited. It’s up to Jimmy Anderson whether he thinks of taking the position in Ben Stokes’s side for the next Ashes trip.