The former England Test captain Joe Root feels empty to see the retirement of James Anderson but understands the decision of the England management as they looked to move on from the veteran player to make plans for the next trip to Australia.
Anderson bade adieu to international cricket after 188 caps, with 704 wickets in the longest format, at Lord’s, as the team went on to register an innings and 114-run win over West Indies during the first of the three-match Test series. The Burnley-born will now take the mentor role of the team for the rest of the summer, during the next two Tests, and the upcoming series over Sri Lanka.
In the same Test, the debutant Gus Atkinson went on to earn the ‘Player of the Match’ award for his figures of 12/106 and made life tough for the batters with his extra yard of pace and a masterclass line and length which never allows the batter to understand whether to get forward or stay on the back foot.
‘A little bit sad to see him go’- Joe Root
Joe Root has featured in 110 Tests with Anderson, besides captaining him 46 times- which is the second most behind Sir Alastair Cook (49). The England batter admitted that he would miss his crime partner on the field, having made his debut in the 2012 Nagpur Test with Jimmy in the team.
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‘For me, all I’ve ever known for England is playing alongside Jimmy and that’s been for 12 years. It’s a bit of a weird one, seeing Stuart (Broad) go last year and (now) Jimmy.’ Joe Root expressed at the end of the Test at Lord’s. ‘I’ll terribly miss playing alongside him, but the fact that he’ll be around for the summer will be great for the young bowlers coming through. I’m really pleased that he’s been able to have the send-off that he deserves but also, it’s in some ways, a little bit sad to see him go.’
Anderson’s role now will be helping the new set of England bowlers in the side, as they will take on 17 Tests before the first Ashes Test in the 2024-25 series. They lost the urn during the 2017- ’18 trip, besides coming on many occasions but failed to cross the final line.
Joe Root knows how important it is to build a constant bowling group for the Ashes, as he has lost three in his career, two of which were as a captain. He also feels that the 2021- ’22 series, where they lost by 4-0, shouldn’t have happened due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
‘Arguably we shouldn’t have gone last time, should we, in retrospect? Thinking of Covid, it was about keeping the lights on last time we went.’ Joe Root addressed. ‘It’s a new opportunity for us. We did what we thought was the right thing at the time. We’ll be in a completely different place going into next time.’
The Yorkshire batter feels that the conditions of Australia demand a player like Atkinson who can bowl at a speed of later 80s and still have the skills of moving the ball around.
‘When teams have gone out there what they need for those conditions is someone like Gus that can bowl at the late 80s and early 90s (mph) and still move the ball around and make things happen at high pace.’ Joe Root stated. ‘It was great to see him come in and do that on such a slow wicket here.’
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West Indies didn’t have a great time with bat in the first Test. However, they are coming on the back of their famous win at Gabba, in Brisbane, as Root is not ready to take the touring side for granted and lightly.
‘We’ve not seen what they’re capable of with the bat yet, and we won’t be taking that for granted and taking that lightly.’ The former England captain Joe Root concluded. ‘And then when it came to the ball, they’ve got some very skillful bowlers.’
The second of the ongoing three-match Test series will start on July 18, at Trent Bridge in Nottingham.