James Anderson is going to turn 44 in a few months’ time. This is not the age to play competitive cricket, but not only is he playing, he is also performing exceptionally well. The former England fast bowler retired from international cricket in 2024 after taking more than 700 wickets in Tests — the only fast bowler to do so — but he has continued to play in domestic cricket, as is the norm for most newly retired English cricketers.
The county cricket season started this past Friday, and it didn’t take more than Day 2 for Anderson to leave his impression on the match. Anderson, who is also captaining Lancashire this season in the second division, took 5/64 to leave Darren Lehmann’s Northamptonshire reeling at 215/9. Lancashire at present are enjoying a massive lead of 169 runs.
Anderson also captained the county last season on a temporary basis but yielded good results with two wins, two draws and one loss. He was appointed permanent captain late last year, and he has said many times since that he is eyeing nothing but getting promotion to the first division this season.
Anderson has set his sights on promotion!
A few days ago, Anderson, who last year played in county cricket, T20 Blast as well as The Hundred, had also insisted this season he was only focusing on red-ball cricket. He particularly made sure to let it be known that he was for sure not playing in the 100-ball league. “It was a mixture of hating every minute of The Hundred last year, if I can say that, and especially being captain this year, I think it’s really important that I focus on being as fit as I can be for the four-day stuff,” Anderson told The Independent.
“When The Hundred’s on, I’m hopefully going to be on holiday somewhere,” he added.
Anderson, who has not taken long to lead the unit with his performances, had a very important message for his teammates in the lead-up to the county season. “I want the team to get promoted this year. I want all the players to have fun doing it. Remember why we started playing cricket, because we love the game. County cricket, he knows, can feel like a treadmill. So to try and bring guys back to, ‘it’s not just a job, it’s something that we love doing’,” he said.
