London, August 13
Former England pacer James Anderson on Tuesday expressed interest in playing some franchise cricket and said that seeing the ball swing during The Hundred competition has made him feel that he can still utilise this skill at the highest level.
Following his retirement from international cricket after the first Test at Lord's against the West Indies last month, Anderson joined the England side as the bowling mentor for the rest of the Test summer. Anderson has been moved into this role keeping the 2025-26 Ashes series in Australia in mind in order to groom newer stars into world-class bowlers.
The 41-year-old took four wickets in his final Test to finish with 704 career scalps in the format, the third behind Muttiah Muralidaran and the late Shane Warne.
Anderson said on the The Final Word Podcast as quoted by Wisden, "I watch The Hundred and see the ball swinging around in the first 20 balls and I think: 'I can do that, I can still do that.' I do not know if that is a viable option, to maybe see if I could do a job in white-ball cricket. Franchise cricket is something I have never done."
The 42-year-old has not ruled out playing domestic cricket, saying that it is not "off the table".
"The way that my body feels, the way I have been bowling in recent years, I still feel I could potentially have something to offer on that front," he said.
Anderson, who finished his career with 188 Tests, 194 ODIs and 19 T20Is to his name said that he still believes he has skill to bowl at English batters in nets.
"Bowling at the England lads in the nets, you have to have change-ups and slower balls. We constantly work it, so I do not think [the skills and variations] will be an issue. But I do not know how much people will want a 42-year-old bowler in their team so we will have to wait and see," said the former England pacer.
Anderson also opened up on the incidents and conversations with coach Brendon McCullum, team director Rob Key and skipper Ben Stokes leading upto his retirement.
"I was told it was 'Lord's or never again' and I decided I wanted to have one more go in England; I wanted my family and friends to see me play one more time," said Anderson.
"England felt it was a good time to look at other players and wanted to go in a different direction. I would not say I was happy. But I did not kick off, I did not feel upset and having the opportunity to stay around the group in a different role interested me as well," he concluded.