‘I would have loved more than a five-minute phone call’: James Anderson on his exclusion from the Test side
James Anderson (image source : Twitter)
James Anderson has the highest wickets in Test cricket history among pace bowlers. He is already a legend and hence exclusion from the England test team for the West Indies tour did not make sense to anybody. The pacer himself has found it hard to accept and has admitted the same on Monday.
After England’s humiliating 4-0 loss in the Ashes earlier this year against Australia, the management decided to opt for changes in the current team setup. This led to the two senior pros in Stuart Board and James Anderson being axed from the team for England’s West Indies tour. The interim Director of Cricket of ECB, Andrew Strauss stated that England would like to take a look at the younger generation of bowlers and hence the decision to drop the duo. Anderson expressed his disappointment at being informed of the exclusion over a five-minute phone call.
Anderson aged 39 is, however, determined to perform well in the domestic circuit and make a comeback in the national setup. While speaking on his exclusion from the Test squad, he said – “I’ve stopped trying to make sense of it and just put it to one side. It was completely out of my control. I’ve got to focus on what I can control and that is bowling as well as I possibly can. Something like this, for me, it’s quite a big deal because it came out of the blue a little bit. I still feel like I’m bowling well.”
He is currently ranked 9 in the Test bowler’s ranking and his tally of 640 test wickets is the third highest in the history of the game. “I was in the top 10 of the world rankings so I feel like I’m doing a good job for the team,”- Anderson added.
After an Ashes defeat everything comes under scrutiny. There’s lots going on, people losing their jobs and stuff. I would have loved a sit-down, face-to-face, but obviously, that’s not always possible in these situations. I would have loved more than a five-minute phone call, but again that’s not always possible”- Anderson stated further.
