England legend asked to retire from Test cricket by Brendon McCullum: Reports

After suffering an embarrassing 4-1 series loss against India away from home, England have set their eyes on the impending summer. They will begin the season with an eye cast on the Ashes next season away from home on Australian soil.

To make wise steps in that direction, the head coach of England, Brendon McCullum, has travelled all the way from New Zealand to England to make a bold call and have an honest chat with one of the English legends. According to a report by The Guardian, McCullum met James Anderson in person at a Golf session for a face-to-face chat, telling him his plans with England, with the future in sight.

Hence, Anderson will end his illustrious career for England this summer, consisting of three Tests each against West Indies and Sri Lanka. The report also read that Anderson might bring down curtains at his home ground - Old Trafford, Manchester - where England will face Sri Lanka in the first of the three rubbers.

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This decision might have had a lot to do with the series loss against India earlier away from the home, where their ‘Bazball’ was thoroughly exposed, leaving England out of options. Their bowling was not penetrative, and their batters had only one way to play, which didn’t work against a team as formidable as India.

James Anderson - a bonafide red-ball great

Undoubtedly, James Anderson is among the best ever to play Test cricket, for he is immensely skilled and has the appetite to improve even at this age. Despite being a pacer, Anderson, 41, has featured in 187 Test matches, the second-most, only behind Sachin Tendulkar.

Anderson has snared 700 wickets, the third-most in this format, at a marvellous average of 26.52 and a 56.96 strike rate in 348 innings. He also has 32 five-wicket hauls, the second-most by a pacer, which shows the sheer quality of Anderson.

Bow down to the Swing King! 👑

James Anderson has become the first pacer to claim 7️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ wickets in Test Cricket. 🙌#IDFCFirstBankTestSeries #BazBowled #INDvENG #JioCinemaSport pic.twitter.com/Rj6iHht5J4

— JioCinema (@JioCinema) March 9, 2024

Quality-wise, Anderson can still play for more years for England, but age is not on his side. He will be 43 by the next Ashes and might not be a workhorse on big grounds in Australia.

It will be amazing for him to end his career in front of his home crowd. James Anderson has served England for long and will go down as one of the legends of the game.

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