READ: Anderson relishing sustained role with Lancashire this summer
James Anderson is relishing the prospect of playing a more sustained role in Lancashire’s bid for silverware during the forthcoming summer.
Earlier this week it was announced that the Red Rose and England legend had signed a new one-year contract at Emirates Old Trafford to play in both the Rothesay County Championship and the Vitality Blast.
Anderson, 42, has not played any cricket since the last of his 188 Test Matches for England last July.
However, the Burnley native has kept on bowling and maintained his fitness whilst undertaking coaching duties with England last summer and through the winter. For example, he is currently in Abu Dhabi on an England bowling camp aimed at preparing the likes of Jofra Archer, Brydon Carse and Mark Wood for their forthcoming white ball commitments in India and at the Champions Trophy in Pakistan.
Anderson will continue those coaching commitments into the summer, though he says: “I’ve made the decision that I want to commit to playing. I’m not going to play the odd game here and there. I want to give it a really good go.
“I don’t want to mess anyone around. I don’t think it would be fair on Lancashire if I just dip in and out. That will take precedent over anything else.”
Anderson’s appearances for Lancashire in recent years have been regular but sporadic. When he has played, he has been exceptional, highlighted by his stunning 7-35 in the first innings of the Championship draw against Nottinghamshire at Southport at the start of last July - his warm-up appearance ahead of his final Test.
In all, since debuting in 2002, he has taken 362 wickets in 91 Championship appearances and was part of the 2011 title-winning campaign.
This summer, he has the chance to spearhead a Division Two promotion campaign.
Lancashire’s director of cricket performance Mark Chilton revealed discussions over Anderson’s deal have been ongoing for some time.
“He’d never ruled it out right from the start,” said Chilton.
“It was quite a challenging time for him last summer because he could understand and respect the decision from England but whether he agreed with it or not, you’d have to speak to him. He felt like he still had a lot to offer.
“We gave him some space and let him work out what he wanted to do over the weeks and months. He got involved in other work.
“But, as time grew on, I kept reaching out and stayed in regular contact.
“It felt to me that drive to play had always been there but that it strengthened throughout the winter. He’s just desperate to get back out on the park again.
“We’re delighted - we’re all really chuffed.
“You can see that he’s genuinely excited to just get out on the park. It’s a huge boost to everyone at the club.”
Anderson, speaking on his BBC Tailenders podcast, continued: “I’ve known that I wanted to play cricket for many months, so it was just trying to find out what sort of cricket I wanted to play.
“Having had a few chats with Lancashire about their plans for the year, it just felt like a nice sort of thing to do.
“I’m looking forward to getting back into proper training again, doing a pre-season.
“For me, although I’ve been a Lancashire player, I’ve not actually been properly part of that team for quite a few years. I dip in and out every now and again over the last 15 years, so it will be nice to actually have a good run at it and be a proper part of the team.
“There’s a good chunk of Championship cricket at the start of the year, and I’m available for the Blast as well if they’ll want me in that. That will be exciting too.
“The contract runs for the whole year, so I’ll play as much as I can.
“I’ve enjoyed the coaching - I still want to do that. We’ll have to see how that fits this summer.
“But I just think while I’m still able to play, while I’m still fit enough and young enough, I want to do that.
“I can’t come back to cricket in three years’ time and say, ‘Actually, I want to give it another go playing’. I would definitely be too old.
“It’s only been six months since I last played, so it’s not been forever. It’s not a massive deal to get back fit. I’ve been bowling still and ticking away with the fitness.
“It’s something I really want to do, and I feel like I can contribute to a fairly young team. It’s not just what I can offer on the field, I’ll bring stuff to the team as a whole. It’s just a really nice fit.
“Hopefully we can have a good year.”
While boosting Lancashire’s red ball promotion chances, the intriguing part of this deal is the T20 element.
Anderson, who links up with the Lancashire squad next week to step up his pre-season training and will later travel abroad on pre-season tour with them, has not played a T20 match since August 2014 - the last of 44 career appearances.
Earlier this winter, he put his name up for auction at the Indian Premier League but did not get picked up.
Chilton is very confident Anderson - a bowler with 1,525 senior wickets to his name - can positively impact Lancashire’s pursuit of a second Blast crown.
He said: “That’s where some of the conversations started.
“Jimmy had an enthusiasm and an interest in exploring white ball cricket after finishing with the Test Matches.
“And if you see how that game’s gone over the last 12-18 months, two years now, bowlers up front who can move the ball have become more of a threat. The balls seem to be doing just a bit more early.
“It does bring people with Jimmy’s skillset back into the fold, whereas a couple of years ago we were seeing a lot of powerplay overs bowled by spinners.
“Now you see a lot of teams setting up with strike bowlers up top looking to take wickets.”
And on the prospect of Anderson’s prolonged presence at Emirates Old Trafford in 2025, the former county captain added: “There are positives wherever you look.
“First and foremost, his quality that he’s going to bring to the team.
“Seam bowling is an area we could have done with that additional strength. We’ve looked to recruit a little bit in the last year or two and haven’t managed to get anybody to the club. He obviously fills that gap really well.
“We know we’re going to get real quality.
“More generally, it’s people seeing how he operates and goes about his business. He’s had a little taste of coaching now, and it will be interesting to see how that has changed his approach to how he goes about it.”
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