He played his last Test against West Indies in July last year.
England had quite a rough opening day of the five-match Test series against India as they toiled hard for wickets at Headingley. The young Indian side piled on 359/3 at the end of the day’s play with Yashasvi Jaiswal and the new captain Shubman Gill registering fine centuries.
England bowlers started well in the first session but couldn’t quite nail the right lines and lengths. Later, they lost control further and looked all over the shop. The frontline trio of Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, and Josh Tongue looked completely ineffective as India put themselves in a commanding position. Captain Ben Stokes was the best bowler with 2 for 43 in 13 overs while other seamers conceded at over 4.30 economy.
Obviously, questions were raised for the abysmal performance English bowlers produced on Friday. Some even slammed the team management for forcing the veteran seamer James Anderson into retirement last year.
James Anderson is the greatest England bowler of all time and ranks amongst the best in the longest format. With 704 wickets to his name, he sits third on the list of most wickets in Test history.
Anderson hasn’t called time on his playing career after his Test farewell at the Lord’s. He has shown the fire within him is still burning. Last month, he turned up for Lancashire in a County fixture against Derbyshire and picked five wickets across two innings. He then donned the T20 jersey after more than decade and has claimed three three-wicket hauls in four games.
Like he's never been away… @jimmy9. 😎
— Lancashire Lightning (@lancscricket) May 17, 2025
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When the England management made the call to move away from Anderson, he was just a few weeks away from touching 42 years of age. Ideally, they would want to look towards the future. At some point, you have to look beyond certain players.
Apart from the age factor, the other thing England wanted badly was the pace. They always have one eye on the Ashes. With the next one scheduled in Australia, the management wanted to build an attack of bowlers with high pace. Think of the guys that can bowl in 140 kmph consistently. Anderson has always been a 130 kmph bowler.
“You ask any batter in the world, whether it be Joe Root, Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, pace is a massive weapon that makes you do different things,” said Stokes a few days after the Lord’s Test.
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Losing Gus Atkinson to an injury was a massive blow for them ahead of this series. He has been their best bowler since making his debut, picking up 55 wickets from 12 matches at 22.30 apiece. But apart from him, their stocks look pretty bleak.
Jofra Archer is perhaps their biggest hope but he hasn’t played a Test in four years due to his injury troubles. He has had to go through multiple surgeries on his right elbow while a stress fracture of his back has also derailed his career. A recent thumb injury ruled him out of the T20I series against West Indies and the first Test versus India. Archer is expected to return for the second Test but the lack of red-ball game-time could be a problem.
England’s other two pace options – Mark Wood and Ollie Stone – underwent knee surgeries and will be out of action for the next four months.
Two cricketing icons. One special recognition 🤝
— BCCI (@BCCI) June 19, 2025
The legendary Sachin Tendulkar and James Anderson pose alongside the new 𝘼𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣-𝙏𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙪𝙡𝙠𝙖𝙧 𝙏𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙝𝙮 🏆#TeamIndia | #ENGvIND | @sachin_rt | @jimmy9 pic.twitter.com/4lDCFTud21
In theory, England did have a good thought behind their need for speed. But all of their fast bowlers are injury-prone. Anderson, touching 43 next month, is perhaps one of the fittest bowlers in the country. What he brings to the table with a pure skill set need not be mentioned. On Friday, England dearly missed the control he offered as their seamers were either too short, sprayed it on the pads, or bowled too wide.
So it begs the question. Did England make a big mistake by forcing the legend to retire? Could they have been better served by having him around the group and playing him in selective games? The answer to that is perhaps yes. Moving away from Anderson without having any ready backups and without taking fitness issues into account has backfired England. How they cope with these issues in the remainder of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy will be a challenge.
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